


The Middle Woman

by BurnedStars777



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Awkward Romance, Awkward Tension, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Engagement, F/M, Kylo Ren and Rey Are Not Related, Minor Poe Dameron/Finn, Political Parties, Post-War, Redeemed Ben Solo, Secret Relationship, Sexual Tension, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-01-15 00:41:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 51,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18487756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurnedStars777/pseuds/BurnedStars777
Summary: Rey swore after the war she would keep Ben Solo and her two closest friends from killing one another. Easier said than done.She didn't count on them all being cramped on the Millennium Falcon. And she definitely didn’t count on falling for her friends’ worst enemy.Arguments. Galas. A secret relationship.Things are about to get tense…





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s my attempt at an AU, post-war fic. Make sure to read my bottom note if you are curious about my reaction to the episode IX teaser trailer, as well as Daisy’s newest comments concerning Reylo during her interview at the Star Wars Celebration.

 

 

 

 

 

_“Rey, where are you going?”_

_“I have to go back for him.”_

_“What?!”_

_“He’ll stand with me this time. I know he will. I…I can feel a change-”_

_“Rey, what are you talking about? Are you crazy?!”_

_“…I think so.”_

_“We need to get back to the Resistance! The whole ship’s going to be blown apart any minute!”_

_“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll be back, I promise.”_

_“Rey? Rey!”_

_“Let her go, Finn.”_

_\---_

 

“You have five minutes,” the rebel guard told her.

Rey nodded, finding she couldn’t summon a response at the moment. As the guard leaned over to type in a code she wasn’t allowed to know, her heart pounded in her chest. The blood beat throughout her so violently she heard it in her ears. The door whooshed upwards with a small clang, and then Rey stepped inside, her feet moving of their own accord.

He sat on his bunk. Rey stared at him, this man who was no longer Kylo Ren, but not quite Ben Solo. His hair was neat and silky, no different than how it normally was, but he was dressed in a light olive uniform, a stark contrast from the black attire she was so used to seeing. The bruises on his face and hands were beginning to fade, and Rey’s fingers subconsciously drifted to her own battle wounds.

It had been one week since the First Order had fallen.

Rey stayed where she was, across the room from him. She didn’t know what to say. Neither had spoken to each other since the final battle, and even then it had only been snappish calls, and pulses through their bond.

Ben studied her, not bothering to brush the strands of raven hair that fell into his eyes. The scar she had given him so long ago stood out prominently on his face, despite the fading color. She wondered if it would ever fade to the point where it wasn’t the first thing you noticed when you glanced at his face. It then occurred to Rey that he would be around long enough, so she could tell for herself.

Yes, it had only been one week since the First Order had fallen, and Kylo Ren had been issued a life sentence to the New Republic.

Ben’s face was a mixture of emotions, so fleeting it seemed like he couldn’t settle on one. He stood, crossing over to her because he knew she wouldn’t.

“What did they say?” he questioned, his voice deep and gravelly, perhaps from lack of use.

Rey swallowed. “You’ll only be able to leave when the New Republic requests your services.” She ignored his obvious look of disdain.

“And my saber?”

“It’s been destroyed.”

Rey knew this didn’t surprise him, but the trembling of his lips indicated his anger and sorrow. She couldn’t blame him. She remembered how incapacitated she had felt without her own saber following the explosion on the  _Supremacy._ Her hand went to her repaired weapon on her hip as the memory resurfaced.

Ben cleared his throat. “What else?”

“In addition to the tracking device imbedded in your forearm, the council wished to assign you handlers for off-world assignments.” She paused. “I volunteered.”

Now Ben _did_ look surprised at this. She couldn’t imagine why. Hadn’t she made it clear she would stand with him, the way he had finally stood with her when it counted?

Rey shuffled her feet, knowing the next bit of news would displease him. “The council insisted Poe and Finn join me. Poe is the only one suited to oversee missions of this magnitude, and Finn…has had prior experience with you.”

Neither of her friends had been happy with the announcement. It made sense, naturally. The trio was the best choice to act as the former Supreme Leader’s handlers, as difficult as it was for Poe and Finn to swallow. They had protested, of course, but not for long. Now that the war was over, everyone needed to play his or her part to help the New Republic rebuild, even if that meant attempting to bury old oppositions.

Rey watched as Ben’s face twisted into a nasty scowl. “I’d rather perish than be reduced to the lap dog of some rebel mongrels.”

A spike of anger shot through Rey. “Don’t say that,” she snapped. “Do you know how difficult it was for me to keep you alive? Do you even realize how many people wanted you to burn?” He did. Of course he did. He had heard the jeers himself when he was tried five days ago.

“You didn’t have to do that,” he argued, but his voice became softer.

Rey sighed. “Yes. I did.” She felt his mind wrap around hers in a comforting way, and her shoulders slumped. She had made a lot of sacrifices to keep him alive.

She’d had to testify, reveal the real events of that night in the throne room, of how Kylo Ren had been the one to kill Snoke. She’d told them of the sacrifice he had made to save her during the final battle, the one aboard the _Finalizer._ In the end she’d reached out her hand and he’d taken it, and together they’d cut down two Knights of Ren. She’d had to reveal their Force Bond; something that she knew would hurt both of them. That was perhaps the most difficult to divulge.

“We’ll be briefed tomorrow by the council,” she added, staring at his chest rather than his eyes. “They’ll let us know what is expected of us.”

“Rey,” Ben said quietly, and she felt his hand slip into her own. His fingers were large and warm and surprisingly gentle, and Rey felt a variety of emotions churning in her chest.

When she looked up again he had come closer to her, and his eyes were unreadable. She shut her eyes, finding it too confusing to stare at him when he gazed at her like that.

She didn’t expect him to press his lips against hers.

The kiss was gentle and brief, mostly because she instantly pulled away in shock. A mixture of delicious and horrible emotions twirled through their connection, and Rey couldn’t differentiate his feelings from hers.

“I…” There was no way she was going to finish that thought, and luckily Ben didn’t appear like he expected her to. He took a step back, giving her space, and Rey didn’t think they would mention this moment again.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, a bit breathlessly, and she turned and left his cell before he could reply or try to kiss her again.

 

\---

 

“Did I do the right thing?” Rey asked Luke much later, when she had connected with the Force during meditation. “By volunteering?”

Luke tilted his head to the side, his mechanical hand hidden beneath his thick, brown robes. “Does it feel like you did the right thing?”

Rey huffed. “I’m not certain. That’s why I’m asking you, isn’t it?”

Luke smiled. “If you were asking me about the Force I would say with every right there is a wrong, with ever bit of Light there is darkness, with every act of violence there is an act of peace that counteracts it. A balance.” He paused, coming to stand in front of his former pupil. “But you’re not asking me about the Force. You’re asking me about morality, and that, I’m afraid, is much more complicated.”

Rey stared blankly at him.

The corners of Luke’s mouth curved up into a smile. “There are gray areas,” he clarified. He paused again, studying her troubled expression. “You’re worried you volunteered for the wrong reasons. You would like to think you did it to help the New Republic, and not because you care for my nephew.”

Rey started at that. Is that what it was? Did her empathy and her desire to sway Ben trickle into caring? Her lips twitched as she remembered the brief brush from his mouth earlier in the day, and she nearly reddened at the thought. She shook her head. There were other, more important things that deserved her focus.

“I think it’s important for the galaxy to witness the redemption of Ben Solo,” Rey offered, once she had gathered her thoughts.

Luke nodded. “So it is. And they shall.” When Rey glanced at him curiously, his eyes twinkled. “It’s not going to be easy, kid, but if anyone can do it, it’s you.”

His words stuck with Rey the rest of the night.

 

\---

 

“I still can’t believe they’re having us do this,” Finn complained, as he, Rey and Poe walked along a corridor to the briefing room. BB-8 trailed closely behind, making his own comments in binary where he saw fit.

“I can,” Poe replied, though he sounded just as bitter. “The entire galaxy is monitoring the decisions of the council. The image of the New Republic rests on their shoulders. If they think the best play is to parade Ren around like some sort of trophy, then that’s what they’re going to do.”

“It’s more than just that,” Rey said quietly, speaking for the first time since they started walking. She didn’t bother to elaborate, sensing her friends were in too foul a mood to think logically. Finn had always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, but she was surprised by how easily Poe’s resentment towards Ben was clouding his judgment. Then again, he had lost countless comrades fighting the First Order, long before either her or Finn had joined the Resistance.   

When the trio entered the briefing room the area was completely barren, save for a makeshift stand for the council to sit behind. The committee consisted of humans, Twi’leks, and a couple of other species Rey could not identify. As she and her friends came to stand before the council, they had to crane their necks just to be able to make eye contact.

Leia, who stood off to the side with Chewie, met Rey’s eyes from across the room. She was not smiling, nor did Rey expect her to. This was not a happy occasion.

The older woman’s eyes drifted up, and Rey turned her head to follow her gaze.

Six rebel guards, each with a blaster drawn, led in Ben. It was almost comical, the lengths they were going to secure him. He kept his eyes straight ahead, his hands out in front of him to account for the restraints on his forearms. Only when he came to stand before the council did his entourage retreat to the perimeters of the room.

Poe and Finn did well to keep their gazes off of him, unpleasant expressions marring their faces. Rey, on the other hand, found she couldn’t look away. He seemed so out of place, slumped over and dressed in his light clothing. Rey realized she wasn’t the only one interested, however, for Leia, as well as several members of the council, kept their eyes trained on him.

A Twi’lek woman rapped, a bit unnecessarily, on the table to signal the start of the meeting. There was a shuffling of documents, a few dry coughs, and then the briefing began.

“First of all, the council wishes to recognize the devotion of you three comrades for your service in the Second Galactic War, and for your future service as the handlers of former Supreme Leader Kylo Ren,” the woman stated, eyeing first Poe, then Finn and finally Rey. “Your loyalty to the New Republic does not go unnoticed.”

Despite her friends’ disgruntled natures, both Finn and Poe stood a bit straighter at the councilwoman’s words. It wasn’t every day a high-ranking official sucked up to those below her rank.

The man next to her, a human, moved in his seat to rest his forearms on the desk. “Despite the successes of the Resistance in battle, however, it is important to acknowledge that sympathizers and officials of the First Order remain at large, Admiral Armitage Hux and four Knights of Ren, to name a few. The council has been made aware such figures continue to threaten the peace by launching smaller, carefully planned raids in an attempt to undermine our victory. After much review, the council remains comfortable in its decision to use the knowledge and abilities of the Order’s former Supreme Leader to capture and detain any lingering threats to the New Republic.”

“The council would like to take this time to discuss the details of such an assignment,” the Twi’lek woman continued. Her eyes raked over Ben. “It is important for the image of the New Republic to have a redeemed Ben Solo at its forefront. Our citizens should become familiar with his face, and recognize he is the symbol of Dark turned Light.”

Finn quietly snorted here, and Rey gave him a sharp nudge with her elbow.

“Therefore, it is essential that in between these assignments, the four of you should attend a variety of social events to bolster the image of camaraderie and renewed hope our people so desperately need in light of the war.”

“Social events?” Poe echoed. “You mean…parties?”

“Galas and events of that nature, yes,” the councilwoman responded.

Rey frowned at that. Galas? Was that really so necessary when Hux and _four_ Knights of Ren were still wrecking havoc across the galaxy?

“While the nature of your mission will be kept covert, it is essential for all of you to make public appearances,” explained a woman with pink scales on her neck. “A General pilot, a former Stormtrooper, the last Jedi, and a former Darksider, all of you have the potential to put forth the message the New Republic needs to build a solid foundation.”

“With all due respect,” General Leia spoke for the first time, “perhaps the council could detail the specificities of the actual assignment? I want to ensure my soldiers know what is expected of them.” Leia caught Rey’s eye from across the room and gave her a sly wink, one that reminded Rey very much of Luke.

“Of course, General,” the human councilman replied, nodding at the older woman. “For each assignment the council will distribute a new location to General Dameron, who will be overseeing the entire operation. Kylo Re-excuse me, _Ben Solo_ will have a second chip installed into his arm in addition to the tracking device. It will monitor his levels of aggression and will administer a sedative if his levels spike during situations where force isn’t necessary.”

“Might I suggest Rey be in charge of that element,” Leia piped in, to the shock of nearly everyone in the room.

The councilman frowned. “Surely General Dameron is more than capable-”

“I have the utmost respect and confidence in General Dameron to carry out his duties,” Leia interrupted. “However, given the rather…volatile nature of his relationship with my son, I firmly believe Rey would be the best candidate for such a responsibility, especially in light of information gathered from the trial.”

 _She’s talking about the bond,_ Rey thought to herself. She had to admit, Leia had a point. Out of her friends she was the most likely to accurately determine when Ben would need to be subdued, but she really hoped it wouldn’t ever have to come to that.

The council people murmured amongst themselves for several moments before the Twi’lek woman addressed them.

“Very well. Rey, do you accept this responsibility?”

Rey kept her eyes forward as she gave a firm nod. “I do.”

“Very good. Now there is the matter of transportation to discuss,” the councilwoman added. “Since this assignment must be kept between those involved and the council, it would not be appropriate to assign you a vessel from the New Republic’s fleet.”

Poe cocked his head to the side. “Look, I hate to disagree with the council here, but if I can’t man one of my own ships, what do you expect me to do?”

The Twi’lek woman gave him a curt smile. “Fortunately, we have a volunteer vessel that is not aligned with the New Republic.”

“Which is…?”

“The _Millennium Falcon._ ”

Rey stilled in shock. Chewie had volunteered, after everything? She snuck a glance at Ben, realizing his impassive expression had tugged down into a deep scowl.

“If there are no other questions, I suggest all of you retire early and get a good night’s sleep,” the Twi’lek woman concluded, looking at each of them again, but this time lingering on Ben. “Your assignment begins tomorrow.”

 

\---

 

Rey had a million thoughts swirling in her head that night. She had attempted meditation again, but had ultimately decided to just pace the metal flooring of her tiny chamber. She was in the middle of said pacing when she halted, a familiar buzzing filling the back of her brain. She wasn’t surprised by the Force’s untimely connections anymore. She had come to expect them, and sometimes, although she would never admit this, she enjoyed them.

He appeared across the room from her, his back pressed against her door. It was still odd seeing him in civilians’ clothing. It sounded foolish, but it was easier to believe the man in front of her was more Ben Solo than Kylo Ren when he dressed the part.

“Did you know about any of this?” he asked gruffly, and Rey’s shoulders sagged from the impending argument they were sure to have.

“No. How could I have possibly known Chewie had volunteered?” Her eyes went down to his forearm, watching as he rubbed it slightly. He must have just received the second implant.

Ben looked off to the side, frustration written all over his face. “This is far worse than I could have imagined.”

Rey subdued the urge to roll her eyes. Honestly after everything, he still thought _this_ was the worst scenario?

“Do you regret standing with me that night?” She asked because she needed to know. She needed to know it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision.

Ben met her eyes, and his scowl faded. “Of course not.”

“Even if it means…this?”

“Admittedly there is _one_ good thing about this situation.”

Rey raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I’m with you.”

Something strange bubbled in Rey’s stomach, and she gazed at the floor. “I wish you wouldn’t say things like that,” she murmured.

“Why not?”

Rey sighed. “Because it’s going to be difficult enough keeping the peace between you and my friends without…complications.”

Ben came right up to her, and she begrudgingly met his eye. He wasn’t happy, but when was he ever?

“I stood by your side for you. I spared you that night in the throne room for you. I allowed myself to be captured _for you._ ”

“Don’t act like you came willingly. You were injured.”

Ben grumbled something under his breath, and then, “I still did it for you.”

“That’s not the only reason,” she argued. “You did it for yourself, Ben. You willingly came back to the Light because your soul needed it.”

“What more do you want from me?” His tone was angry, but she could easily feel the hurt emanating from him.

She stared back at him, trying to sort out her own feelings but failing miserably. The truth was, there was a part of her that just wanted to give in, to fulfill the last component of her vision she had seen that night, when they had touched hands on Ahch-To. But when it came down to it, her friends came first. The New Republic came first. Anything else would have to wait. Even if the war was over, the fight still wasn’t.

“I just need…time,” she finished lamely, avoiding his eye contact because she knew how uncertain and pathetic she sounded. He could feel her emotions as if they were his own, and she had no doubt that he could read her like an open book.

Maybe that was why he didn’t argue further, instead choosing to stand in silence across from her until their bond faded. His absence should have offered her some sort of relief, but now she just felt empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:
> 
> The assignment starts, and we get some delicious tension between our characters!
> 
> As for the teaser trailer: WOW. It was better than I could have imagined. Ugh, I’ve watched it at least twenty times. That whole sequence with Rey running and then flipping over Kylo’s TIE Silencer, and then the Emperor’s laugh. I’M SO PUMPED. 
> 
> As for Daisy’s response to Reylo: I know a lot of people are freaking out about how there might not be Reylo in episode IX based on her comments, but here’s my opinion. One, as much as I love Daisy, it doesn’t really bother me if she isn’t 100% on board with the ship, because at the end of the day she isn’t Rey, she is just a regular person with her own personal opinions. In terms of the story I don’t think this reveals much, because she was just asked her personal opinion on the ship not the ship in relation to the story, but she did basically confirm Bendemption. Also in another interview she says their relationship continues to evolve, and let’s just remember how the Last Jedi ended with them as ‘enemies’ so…where shall it go? :)
> 
> My hopes for IX are that Ben is redeemed and that he LIVES. Of course I would love a kiss, and a definite Reylo confirmation, but I would honestly be happy with implied Reylo, because I can see that being more realistically canon. I think the only thing that would really upset me is if either Ben wasn’t redeemed (which it seems like he will be) or he is redeemed and he dies. Anything else, I think I’m okay with, because it’s already been implied that Rey and Ben have a deeper connection than they could have realized, and that if he lives and his redeemed, they will stand together.
> 
> What do you guys think?


	2. Chapter 2

_“You won’t kill me.”_

_“You don’t know that.”_

_“I do. If you could, you would have chosen Snoke instead of me.”_

_“Maybe I chose wrong that night.”_

_“You did. You should have come with me. You still can. It’s not too late.”_

_“Rey.”_

_“Please, Ben.”_

\---

 

Rey’s arms encircled Chewie right when he stepped off the _Millennium Falcon._ The Wookiee wrapped her up in his furry arms and squeezed her tightly until the breath whooshed out of her.

“Thank you,” Rey told him when he had released her, and she knew he understood what she meant.

Chewbacca let out a small roar, his lips forming into a bittersweet smile. His eyes flickered up, and he moved to greet Finn and Poe in similar fashions.

“Good to see you again, Chewie,” Finn said, grinning from ear to ear. When Chewie responded and then made to speak to Poe, Finn leaned over to Rey. “I have no idea what he said.”

Rey chuckled, then craned her neck, so she could get a better look at the _Falcon._ The last time she had been onboard was during the Battle of Crait, more than a year ago. She dodged to the side when she realized she had almost stepped on something.

“Sorry, BB-8,” Rey said, when the droid released an indignant beep.

“Great, there he is,” Finn muttered, and Rey lifted her head.

Sure enough, Ben was heading in their direction, but this time he was unrestrained and unguarded. Leia walked next to him, but the two stood an awkward distance apart, giving Rey the impression they had not uttered a single word during the journey. She suspected Leia had something to do with Ben’s casual transition from prisoner to worker.

“Try to behave,” Rey told Finn, giving him a knowing stare when he began to open his mouth in offense. He shut it just as quickly, probably sensing she was right.

When Leia and Ben joined the rest of the group, Rey swore the tension in the air could be cut with a knife. Chewie seemed to stand taller, more stiffly, as he regarded his best friend’s son with a hostile glare. Rey knew Chewie was only doing this for Han, as it was what the deceased man would have wanted, but that didn’t make the situation hurt any less.

Leia, bless her soul, was always one to cut right down to business. “I assume you’ve been given the first coordinates, General?” she asked Poe.

The pilot nodded. “All taken care of.” He paused. “When exactly are we supposed to be back for this party?”

Leia raised an eyebrow. “You mean the gala celebrating the rebirth of the New Republic? I’m sure you must be quite eager to attend all varieties of social gatherings again, Dameron.”

Poe grimaced. “Hey, if there’s one thing Ren and I have in common, it’s our mutual hatred for polite, party conversation.”

Rey blinked in bewilderment and by the look on Finn’s face, he was just as shocked by the comment. It had never occurred to her that Poe and Ben would have known each other before the war, but now that she thought about it, it made sense. Poe’s parents had been allies of Leia’s, and he was only a few years Ben’s senior…

Even so, the prospect of either of them having _polite conversation_ with one another was just bizarre. Rey’s eyes shot over to Ben, but he completely ignored Poe, choosing instead to glare daggers at the _Falcon._

“Yes, well, the event isn’t scheduled until the following week. I’ll notify you as soon as I have more information,” Leia told him.

Her eyes went to Chewie, her gaze heartfelt, yet intense. Rey watched the two of them embrace, marveling at the wordless interaction. Then again, what else could they have said?

“May the Force be with all of you,” Leia said. She gave Rey a small nod when their eyes met, and Rey’s spine straightened, knowing she would rather die than let this woman down. Her hand shifted to the tiny remote inside her belt, a reminder that she had the main responsibility to monitor Ben’s unpredictable behavior. 

Leia turned to go, but she paused by her son. Her hand twitched by her side unsurely, before it came out and squeezed his upper arm. Ben visibly stiffened at the gesture, but made no retort as his mother disappeared back inside.

And then things became really awkward.

Poe cleared his throat. “BB-8, why don’t you help Chewie prepare the _Falcon_?”

BB-8 made a few beeps, and then followed the Wookiee inside.

So this is where it began.

Rey had made a promise to herself that she would be on her toes, ready to diffuse any aggression between Ben and her friends, but now that the four of them were here together…she was drawing a blank.

Poe cleared his throat again, digging one thumb into the waistband of his new, tan uniform. “Let’s lay down some ground rules, why don’t we?” His tone wasn’t exactly angry, but it was nearly antagonistic, and Ben’s face darkened.

_Oh Stars, here we go._

“On this ship, and every time we aren’t on this exact base, I’m your superior officer. You might not be in cuffs now, Ren, but if you do anything to endanger, my crew, or any innocents during these missions, I’ll personally make sure you’re permanently locked in the cell where you should have been in the first place.” Poe’s normally charming features were marked with contempt, and Rey discovered she had never seen this side of him before.

Ben scoffed. “You can’t hide inside your X-wing anymore, Dameron. Call yourself what you want, but when we’re down there on the ground that pathetic blaster isn’t going to save you. You’ll be clinging to me to save your own hide.”

Finn came forward, instantly angry on Poe’s behalf. His old intimidation of his former leader had completely vanished. “Poe’s a better fighter than you’ll ever be. He’s brave, and honorable and you’re just, just-”

Ben took a step closer as well. “It’s fitting for _you_ to blindly follow the first alpha figure you can find, given your mind has been hardwired to obey the commands of anyone even _marginally_ more intelligent-”

“ _Oi!_ That’s enough,” Rey interrupted, coming to stand between Finn and Ben and placing a palm on each of their chests. “Honestly, we haven’t even left the bloody base yet.”

Both men seemed ready to lash out. It didn’t go unnoticed to Rey that Finn and Poe’s hands had drifted to the blasters on their belts. Ben, while weaponless, had his hands so viciously clenched his knuckles appeared as though they would pop.

“Finn, Poe, give Chewie a hand, will you? We’ll be aboard shortly,” Rey said, finally lowering her arms.

Finn’s glare didn’t soften, but his posture relaxed a bit when Poe put his hand on his shoulder.

“You heard the woman.” Poe sent Rey a brief nod before he and Finn disappeared inside the craft. 

Rey rounded on Ben. “Must you be so hostile?”

He crossed his arms. “They started it.”

“Oh, don’t be a child! They have every right to be angry with you. That doesn’t mean you have to rise to the bait.” Rey sighed. “It will be easier for you and for me if you can avoid confrontation as much as possible.”

Ben scowled. “I shouldn’t be surprised you’d choose Dameron and FN-2187 over me.”

“ _Poe_ and _Finn_ have been there for me more than you have,” she reminded him crossly.

He frowned. “That’s not true.”

“Well, they’re more consistent, then.” Rey held up her hand when he looked like he was about to dispute that. “Look, I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but I _do_ want the best for you, Ben. I’ve seen the Light inside of you…you just have to give everyone else a reason to believe it’s there too.”

She hesitated, but then took his hand. It was warm and softer than she remembered. She looked at him meaningfully, hoping he could sense how sincere she was, if not through their bond then from her expression. Ben stared at her for one, long moment before sighing.

“Fine. I’ll…”

“You’ll what?”

“…Put in an effort.”

Rey tried her best to hide her triumphant smile. He really was just a stubborn child, wasn’t he? She glanced away innocently when he narrowed his eyes at her. Hm, perhaps she hadn’t been as subtle as she thought.

 

\---

 

“So…where are we going exactly?” Finn asked as he adjusted the jacket Poe had given him.

Chewie roared a response, but Finn just looked helplessly at Rey and Poe when the Wookiee turned back to the controls.

“Canto Bight,” Poe translated. “That’s out first stop.”

“Wish Rose was with us,” Finn mentioned. “She could’ve helped.”

“She has her hands full,” Poe reminded him, doing his best not to hover over the control panel, but failing. “The council has everybody running around.”

“Can I ask what the council expects us to find on Canto Bight?” Rey questioned.

Poe turned around to look at her from his seat up front. “Reports of low ranking First Order officials have been made throughout the city. Nothing worth transmitting home about, but it’s a start.” He swiveled back to the front, running a hand through his salt and pepper hair.

Rey tilted her head to regard Ben, who was seated as far away from the group as humanly possible. He seemed to be staring at nothing, and Rey couldn’t help but think how lonely he looked. His eyes met hers then, and she reddened, frustrated with herself for being caught. As she glanced away, she thought she caught him smirking, the bastard.

Not too long after, the _Millennium Falcon_ landed next to the artificial ocean that boarded the city of Canto Bight. Both Rey and Ben were instructed to put up the hoods on the backs of their uniforms; in a city as large as Canto Bight there were bound to be some turned heads if the last Jedi and former Supreme Leader made an appearance. Chewie stayed on the ship, giving them an encouraging roar as the four, plus BB-8, exited the _Falcon_ and began the trek into the city.

“Remember, just keep a look out for anything suspicious,” Poe said as they navigated the expensive stone sidewalks. “Any signs of violence or tyranny would be preferable.”

Rey caught Ben rolling his eyes beneath his hood, and she resisted the urge to nudge him in the side. She decided to give him mercy, however, considering he didn’t vocalize his disdain and cause a scene this time.

Rey was distracted from her thoughts when she sensed a disturbance in the Force. She instinctively stopped in her tracks, placing a hand on Ben’s elbow. Finn and Poe halted as well, turning to regard Rey with curiosity. She glanced at Ben from beneath her hood.

_Do you sense that?_

_Yes._

“Rey, what-” Finn started, but an explosion several blocks away cut him off.

“Let’s move!” Poe called over the screams of civilians, removing his blaster from his belt and charging in the direction of the eruption. Finn and BB-8 trailed closely behind him.

Rey watched Ben, and for the briefest of moments it seemed like he was about to flee. He met her eyes though, and he must have realized she would have easily squandered any attempts he made.

“Come on,” she said, tugging on his forearm and simultaneously igniting her saber, the bluish-white glow lighting up her face.

When they rounded the corner, they had to avoid running straight into the mesh of laser fire. They quickly ducked behind the fanciest dumpster Rey had ever seen in her life. She peered around the shelter, her eyes quickly finding her friends across the clearing. They were exchanging blaster fire with a couple of unseen opponents, most likely First Order sympathizers.

“I’m going in,” Rey announced.

“And what exactly am I supposed to do?” Ben hissed. “I’m unarmed.”

“Cover me,” she said simply, before marching right into the thick of the fire.

She breathed evenly, finding the Force like an old friend as she twirled her weapon effortlessly. The attacks deflected easily off of her as she spun, rapidly approaching their attackers. She felt one of them trying to sneak up behind her, but before she could lift her hand, the Force blew him off his feet. She shook her head to herself.

_Show off._

_You said to cover you, did you not?_

She ignored the barb as she moved closer to the attackers. They were firing more desperately on her now, their sole attention focused on her. Just a bit closer-

Finn’s distinct yell, caught her off guard, and she whipped around to discover a stray beam had hit him. Smoke filled the clearing now, making it difficult for anyone to see what they were doing. Another small explosion to her far left caused her to stumble backwards. Rey paused, suddenly disoriented. Where were her friends?

She heard several fading footsteps that indicated the assailants were escaping, but right now she had bigger priorities.

“Finn? Poe?” she called. She jumped when she felt two large hands on her shoulders, and she would have whipped around and decapitated her accoster then and there if she hadn’t known right away it was Ben. “We need to find them.”

“Rey!” Poe yelled, and her head swiveled in his direction.

Rey and Ben wafted through the smoke until they came to the other side of the clearing. Finn was on his back clutching his shoulder with Poe and BB-8 by his side. When Poe noticed Ben, he rose immediately.

“You had your shot, Ren. I hope it was worth it because you’re going away for a long, long time.” He was livid. Rey had never seen Poe this angry.

“Poe, what are you talking about?” she asked seriously.

“He pushed Finn back with the Force, right into open laser fire!” Poe exclaimed. “I saw it happen.”

BB-8 clicked rapidly as if to attest to Poe’s claim.

Rey looked to Ben in disbelief. “Is this true?”

Ben glowered. “How was I supposed to know it was him? I was throwing anyone who was shooting in your direction,” he glared at Finn and Poe, “and you idiots kept shooting!”

“It was an accident,” Rey breathed, partly in relief, and partly in horror as she crouched by Finn’s side. Her friend’s eyes were screwed shut, and his whole face was set in a grimace. “It’s okay, Finn. We’ll get you some bacta back on the _Falcon._ ” She glanced up at Poe. “He said it was an accident.”

“Forgive me if I don’t exactly believe that,” Poe snapped back, and Rey sighed in frustration.

“We can discuss this later. Right now Finn needs our help.”

 

\---

 

Finn grimaced as fresh bacta was applied to his bare shoulder. “It honestly doesn’t hurt _that_ bad,” he insisted, although the look on his face said otherwise.

Poe patted him on the other shoulder. “Don’t try to be a hero, bud.”

Chewie offered some roars of sympathy.

Ben made sure to keep as far from the situation as possible. It didn’t escape Rey that his eyes were roaming over Finn’s back, studying the scar he had given him on Starkiller Base all that time ago. She couldn’t tell if Ben was guilty, or resentful, for his face had become a mask once more.

Rey ran a hand tiredly over her head. After things had calmed down a bit, she had been able to convince Poe it really had been an accident on Ben’s part, that it could have happened to anyone. She had even suggested getting him a blaster so he wouldn’t have to rely on the Force as much, but the pilot had been extremely reluctant. Either way they were going to have to figure out a new system; it was downright unacceptable that they had managed to let such measly opponents escape.

“So, what’s the plan now?” Finn inquired, after the bacta had been firmly applied.

Poe sighed. “We sleep on it. Try again tomorrow. That’s all we can do.”

Once Poe made sure Finn was comfortable in the med-cot, he took the bunk across from him. Rey made to stand and discovered Ben had already slipped into one of the smaller back chambers of the ship. Of course, it made sense he knew this craft like the back of his hand.

Rey knew she should find her own bunk for the night, but she felt like she needed to speak with Ben. Her eyes ran over Poe and Finn, and once she was certain they were too tired to question her, she followed the way Ben had gone and slipped inside his chamber.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See my bottom note if you are interested in discussing more theories/"potential spoilers" in Episode IX. I'm not going to include these in my opening notes, in case people would rather go into the theater not knowing/expecting anything.
> 
>  
> 
> I'm all for reading theories/"potential spoilers" now, but when the movie drops I am QUITTING the internet until I've seen it for myself!

 

 

_“Ben!”_

_“…”_

_“You…just killed one of your own Knights.”_

_“…I know.”_

_“…Why?”_

_“Because he was going to kill_ you _.”_

\---

 

When she stepped inside the room, he was sitting upright in a bunk, facing the door. If she didn’t know any better, Rey would have assumed he was waiting for her. She stood awkwardly in the doorway; she had had some sort of game plan when she entered, but all of it had gone right out the window.

“Hi,” she said dumbly.

He raised one raven eyebrow. “Do you need something?”

“I just…wanted to see how you were doing.” Rey winced at her own discomfort.

“I’m fantastic.”

“Really?”

“No.”

“Right.” Rey shuffled her feet. “I’m going to see what I can do about getting you a blaster.”

Ben scoffed. “Don’t bother.”

Rey frowned. “But I thought-”

“I don’t need another reason for Dameron to be on my back.”

She sighed. “I’ve already spoken to him about that. They’ll be able to see you’re on their side eventually. Just give them time.”

His hands gripped the sides of his bunk. “You’re forgetting I’m not on their side. I’m not here by choice.”

“Fine. On _my_ side then.”

He was silent.

Rey looked to the side, as if there were a window she could glance out of to gauge the time of night. “It’s late. I’ll leave you.”

“Rey.”

She hesitated, her hand on the door.

“You can stay.”

Her heartbeat pounded down her fingertips all the way to the metal door. She kept her back to him. “Ben…”

He grumbled something, and she knew he could sense her uncertainty through the bond. “Forget it,” he amended.

Rey swallowed. “Good night.” And she left before she could change her mind.

 

\---

 

The quartet, plus BB-8, made their way back into Canto Bight the following day, despite Poe and Rey’s protests to Finn that he should stay behind and rest.

“I’ve still got two legs and my blaster arm,” he had replied, shooting them a crooked smile. “No way I’m staying behind.”

Rey hoped they would be able to run into the same First Order sympathizers as the previous day so they could redeem themselves, but they had no such luck. The team wandered aimlessly for most of the day, and she was beginning to think they would have to contact the council and inform them of their failure.

Rey surveyed each of her companions. While she had spent a majority of the day talking to Poe, Finn or BB-8, she made sure to squeeze in a few comments to Ben when her other friends were occupied. The responses she received from him were overall unenthusiastic, to the point where she wondered why she kept bothering.

She adjusted her hood, making sure to keep her face and saber hidden, as was necessary. She jolted when Ben’s hand gripped her shoulder, and she tried to ignore the electricity of their bond through the contact of their bare skin.

Apparently she wasn’t the only one who noticed the gesture, for Finn peered over with a deep frown on his face. “Hey, what’s going on?”

Ben ignored him, choosing to keep his focus on Rey. “Can you feel a signature?”

Rey closed her eyes, reaching out with the Force. He was right. There was another Force sensitive person in the area. She could tell they weren’t that far away.

“Could it be a Knight?”

Ben shook his head. “It’s too weak.”

Poe stepped enough between them that Ben dropped his hand. “You two mind telling us what it is your sensing?”

“Ben thinks he feels a Force signature,” Rey explained. “I feel it too.”

“Let’s follow it then.”

“That’s not how the Force works,” Ben said, annoyance laced in his tone.

Poe narrowed his eyes. “You’re telling me you can’t trace a Force signature? _You?”_

“Not in the way you mean. You don’t understand the complexities of the Force. It isn’t like the hunks of space heap you’re used to flying-”

“We’ll do our best,” Rey cut in, before the argument had a chance to brew.

Ben was right though. Tracing a Force signature, especially one this weak and flickering was nearly impossible. It was like a game of hot and cold. Every time they would begin to lose the trail, they would have to stop and change direction. It was a frustrating task, but it certainly didn’t help things when Finn stumbled and rammed his forehead against Ben’s back.

The taller man whipped around, obviously suspecting foul play. He made to raise his hand, but Rey glared at him so fiercely that he thought better of it.

“This is a waste of time,” he snapped instead.

“Correction. This is a waste of _our_ time. Not yours. Not sure if you’ve noticed, Pal, but you’re serving a life sentence. You’ve got nothing _but_ time,” Poe picked at his nails disinterestedly.

Rey could have torn her hair out. She was getting sick of this very quickly.

“Maybe we should split up for a while,” she suggested. “Ben and I can continue with the Force signature, and Finn and Poe, you can continue the trek uptown.”

Poe gave Ben a cool look. “Fine with me.”

“Same,” Finn echoed.

Rey looked at Ben expectantly.

“Whatever,” he muttered.

BB-8 clicked.

Once Rey and Ben broke off from the rest of the group, she let out a sigh she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She understood the council’s decision for Ben to have multiple handlers, but surely they hadn’t accounted for how hostile the dynamic of the team would be? She sighed again. If they were this volatile when no one was watching, she couldn’t imagine what they would be like at these upcoming social events. Maybe Leia would be able to help them out.

Leia…

“Have you spoken to your mother?” Rey asked suddenly, and she could tell the question had caught him off guard. “One on one?”

Ben grunted. “She’s occasionally attempted to initiate conversation.”

“You don’t wish to speak with her?”

“What do you think?”

“You should,” Rey said, squeezing to the side as a cart passed them on the street. “It will make things easier for you.”

“Why are you so concerned if things are easy for me?” He tucked a lock of dark hair back under his hood.

“Because I care what happens to you,” she admitted, keeping her eyes forward. “More than I should.” She paused. “Do you feel that?”

“Yeah.”

She tugged on the sleeve of his uniform. “This way.” She led him down an alleyway, the signature growing stronger by the second. They were definitely headed in the right direction now.

They rounded a corner and came upon a small child, no more than two, covered from head to toe in dirt. Rey crouched down beside her, using her uniform to wipe some of the grime from her face.

“Stars…” she muttered, at a loss. The signature was definitely coming from this child. She seemed so out of place in this glamorous city. Something wasn’t right.

“Step away from the brat,” a male voice said, and Rey and Ben looked up. There were four grungy individuals, all dressed in rags, and reeking of bile. Rey knew at once they were off-worlders, perhaps smugglers of some sort. They probably didn’t even know the child was Force sensitive.

Rey gripped the child and handed her to Ben. He glanced at Rey with such disdain it was almost comical, but he took the girl. Rey removed her saber and lowered her hood.

“This child does not belong to you. On behalf of the New Republic, we are confiscating her and delivering her to the high council.” Rey tightened her grip on her saber. “Will this be an issue?”

Apparently, yes. All four men removed blasters from their holsters, and in the same instant Rey ignited her lightsaber. Ben, who was stubborn but fortunately not a fool, took the hint and ducked around the corner with the child, knowing he would be more of a burden than a help without a weapon.

It wasn’t really that much of a fight. It took longer than maybe was necessary, but that was only because Rey wasn’t aiming to kill. Unfortunately she did have to slice off the arm of one of the smugglers when he blasted a smidgen too close to her head. When it was over, all four lay in a stinking, moaning heap, and Rey sheathed her saber. She paused over one of the men, debating something in her head. Before she could question anything, she bent over and scooped up a blaster and then left the premises before she could cause more of a scene. 

She found Ben holding the child out from him at arm’s length. Rey stifled a snort at his unsavory expression. As soon as he noticed her, he handed her the girl, and Rey balanced the toddler on her hip.

“You certainly took your time,” he commented, and she wrinkled her nose. She removed the stolen blaster from her belt and tossed it to him. He caught it easily, turning the weapon over in his hands. “This is an outdated model.”

Rey balked. “Be a little grateful, won’t you? Maybe next time you won’t have to run for cover, yeah?”

He scowled at her, but clipped the blaster to his belt. Rey adjusted her hold on the child, who had begun sucking her dirty thumb.

“Come on, let’s find the others.”

 

\---

 

It was only when the _Millennium Falcon_ was back in deep space did Poe notice the blaster clipped to Ben’s belt. His eyes instantly narrowed, and he opened his mouth, but Rey beat him to it.

“I found it. It’s basically rubbish, but it’s better than nothing. Poe, he can’t be running around without some sort of weapon,” she argued.

Poe leaned against his chair, and Rey thought he might accuse her of overstepping, but to her surprise his easy smile appeared back on his face. “Well, look at you challenging authority.”

Rey blinked, and then mirrored his smile. “I learned from the best.”

Poe sent her a wink, which seemed to mortify Ben, but she ignored his dramatics, choosing to bob the child they had rescued in her lap.

“What are we gonna do with her?” Finn questioned.

Chewie roared as he adjusted the controls of the _Falcon._

“We’ll head back to base,” Poe translated. “Give us time to drop off the child, freshen up, and then see what else the council has for us. Also,” and here Poe cringed, “Leia wants to prep us for the upcoming gala. Make sure we have proper etiquette and all that.” Poe nodded towards the child. “Good job with her, Rey.”

Rey continued to bounce the girl. “Ben was the one who initially found the signature,” she replied pointedly.

“…Good job to both of you then.” He said the statement as though it pained him, but Rey smiled anyway.

When they returned to base, a cluster of their comrades greeted them before immediately cuffing Ben. The latter had a sour look on his face, but he didn’t offer a comment.

“Is that really necessary?” Rey asked one of the soldiers, still gripping the girl.

“Just our orders ma’am.”

Rey huffed in exasperation as they began to lead Ben away, presumably to some cell. “Ben, I’ll come by later,” she called, and although he didn’t respond, she was able to catch his eye. The child in her arms made a noise as if to affirm her promise. When she spun back around, she recognized the troubled expressions of both Finn and Poe. “What?”

Poe shook his head, brushing the look off. “Nothing. Let’s regroup in the morning, alright?”

Rey nodded, and the pilot walked in the direction of the ‘freshers. When Rey gazed back at Finn, she realized a deep frown was still on his face. “Finn? Is your shoulder bothering you?”

Finn blinked. “It’s not that.”

“Then what-”

“What’s going on between you and him?” he blurted.

Rey blinked in shock. “Who?” she replied, if only to buy her some time.

Finn sighed. “Rey-”

“I’m just trying to hold everyone together,” she defended herself.

He scratched his head. “Yeah, well, you seem like you come to his defense an awful lot.”

“It’s two against one, Finn. It’s not exactly fair.”

“Rey, this is _Kylo Ren_ we’re talking about here. Nothing he’s ever done is fair!”

“I _know_. I’m just trying to make the best of our situation.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to choose him over us,” Finn grumbled.

Rey’s anger spiked. “I would _never_ choose him over you, or Poe, or the Resistance, er, the New Republic.” The hand not holding the child clenched into a fist. “I can’t believe you would say something like that.”

Finn must have comprehended he had gone too far, for he backtracked. “I know you wouldn’t. I’m sorry, Rey. It’s just…hard and confusing to see you so buddy-buddy with him when a few months ago you hated him as much as the rest of us.” He paused. “Is it this bond thing you have? With the Force?”

Rey’s eyes darted to the side. “Partly. Ben and I have grown used to it though.”

Finn cringed. “I wish you wouldn’t call him that. It makes him sound...normal.”

“Isn’t that the goal of the New Republic? To humanize him?” Rey pointed out.

He sighed. “Yeah.” Wincing, he added, “I guess Poe and I haven’t exactly tried to boost camaraderie like the council wants. I’ll…try to go easier on him, I guess.” The last statement came out bitterly, but Rey appreciated the attempt.

“Thank you, Finn.”

The child squealed.

 

\---

 

Rey was astonished when she was allowed to escort Ben by herself to the briefing room a few days after they had returned. He was still cuffed, which she found ridiculous, but she took her victories where she could. They walked together side by side in silence. Rey would have tried to strike up conversation, but her thoughts were currently a jumbled mess. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what Leia expected of her with this upcoming gala. Rey had never been to a party, let alone an event intended for the highest nobles in the galaxy. She could take on the First Order, but attempting polite conversation with senators?

“You’re nervous,” Ben observed as they walked. “You’re practically shouting at me.”

“Sorry,” Rey muttered, twisting her hands together. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Is it awfully difficult? These social events?”

Ben snorted. “ _That’s_ what you’re worried about?”

“I’ve never been to one,” Rey replied defensively.

“You aren’t missing anything.”

“So you’ve been to several then?”

“Regrettably.”

“…With Poe?”

“ _Rey,_ ” he warned.

She crossed her arms as they walked. “I didn’t know you knew each other before the war.”

“Know is a strong word,” he said. “We met on less than five occasions.”

“Were you ever on good terms?”

“Hardly.”

Ben didn’t say anything more, which was probably for the best, as they had arrived at their destination. Rey typed in the code to the briefing room and they entered. Finn and Poe were already seated inside. Finn gave her a small smile, doing his best not to show his discomfort with Ben’s presence. She took a seat beside her friend, watching as Ben found his own place as far from the trio as possible. He rested his cuffed hands on the table and blandly stared ahead.

Leia entered a few minutes later with a small group of assistants. One of them removed Ben’s restraints, thankfully. Rey watched in apprehension as each assistant placed a plate set in front of each of them, utensils and all. She gawked at the set, a deep sense of dread settling in the pit of her stomach.

“Let us begin,” Leia instructed.

It was an understatement to say Rey was entirely lost. She didn’t understand why anyone would need _two_ spoons and _three_ forks. _Three_ forks! Then there was this whole matter of spinning one of the knives at an angle by her top left and, Stars, she was doomed.

Thankfully, she wasn’t the only one. Finn had broken out into a thick sweat and kept wiping at his forehead. Poe seemed rather bored as he lazily positioned each utensil properly. Ben had finished long ago and was staring up at the ceiling.

“Forks go on the left,” Leia instructed her from behind her chair.

Rey stared blankly at her. “But I’m right handed.”

A snort of genuine amusement escaped Ben, and Rey glared at him in annoyance but also surprise. If she didn’t know any better she would say he had come fairly close to laughing…and of course it was at her expense.

Rey blushed all the way down to her neck as she stared at her messy table set. “Forks on the left. Got it.”

Fortunately the lesson didn’t last much longer. As they exited, Leia mentioned something about the council eventually sending over tailors for dress wear, and Rey didn’t even want to think about what that could mean.

She lifted her head with the intent to tease Ben about the prospect of having his hair styled, but found he was already being led away by a pair of soldiers. The cuffs were back in place.

Rey stared down, forcing herself not to care as much as she did.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now for the theories as well as the "word of mouth" spoilers:
> 
> Saw something about how Kylo's TIE in the teaser/in Episode IX is a two seater. I was skeptical about the theory of them training in the teaser, but I'm starting to think it could be more realistic, based on some theories I've read. (If he really wanted to kill her why does he not blast her? Why does she turn around like she's going to pass a baton?)
> 
> I also saw something about Poe dying halfway through the film, and Finn being the one to see him go. I read something about how there could be a kiss mirroring the TLJ one with Rose. The source said this would be a "shocking" moment. 
> 
> I have no idea how to feel about this is it is true. I understand there are going to be some fatalities, and if one of the main characters is going to die, I do feel like it would be Poe. :(
> 
> As for the kiss theory, if they did do something like that, I can see it coming off as more of a deep love, but not necessarily romantic (at least that's how it would come across.) I think it would be amazing if Star Wars confirmed a relationship between Finn and Poe, but I'm also skeptical of this because at the end of the day, Disney is a business, and I'm afraid they'll cater to more heteronormative themes, especially since it seems like there might be a Rose/Finn thing. Then again, the kiss they shared in TLJ I don't think was romantic, so AH, I don't know what to believe.
> 
> Tell me your thoughts! More theories to come!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to read my bottom note for more talk about theories/potential spoilers that I’ve heard about Episode IX!

 

_“You need to leave.”_

_“Come with me.”_

_“I’m_ not _going to turn myself over to the Resistance.”_

_“Well I’m not going to leave you here!”_

_“They’re coming. Go, now!”_

_“Who? Who’s coming?”_

_“The other Knights.”_

_“I’m staying.”_

\---

 

“What do you mean I can’t see him?” Rey demanded.

“Sorry, ma’am. Orders from the council. No one is to see the prisoner when he is not summoned for assignment.” To be fair, the guard did look fairly apologetic, but Rey wasn’t in the mood for sympathies.

“The council can make an exception,” she argued.

The guard winced. “Ma’am-”

“General Leia sent me,” Rey blurted, startled by how quickly the lie rolled off her tongue. “She has important information about the impending gala that she wishes for me to pass on to her son.”

The guard seemed conflicted, and Rey couldn’t blame him. Ultimately he sighed and stepped back. “Make it quick,” he muttered, and Rey nodded.

She entered the cell to find Ben balancing in a handstand. His shirt had ridden up, revealing the bottom half of his pale stomach. If Rey looked close enough she could see a thin trail of dark hair disappearing into the top of his waistband.

She looked away and cleared her throat. She waited for him to stand properly, the blood gradually rushing out of his face.

“So,” he said, when he had adjusted his clothing, “What’s the message?” Oh, how she wanted to punch that smug look off his face.

Instead she raised an eyebrow. “You heard that?”

“These walls are thin.”

Rey threaded her fingers together. “I told you I would visit, didn’t I?”

Ben grunted inelegantly, sitting on his bunk. “I’m honored.”

The corner of her mouth tugged up as she sat on the floor across from him. “I actually do have a message.”

“I see.”

“Poe received another message from the council. They have a source that says Hux was spotted on Tatooine. We’re flying there tomorrow.”

Ben scoffed. “Then they must have illegitimate sources.”

Rey’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why would you say that?”

“Have you ever _been_ to Tatooine?”

“Of course not,” she replied. “You know I’ve spent most of my life on Jakku, and the rest with the Resistance. I haven’t exactly had time to travel.”

Ben leaned back against the wall. “Tatooine is a lawless world. Slave trade, prostitution, underground fighting rings…it’s not a place Hux would visit.”

“Well…you don’t know that for sure.”

“Yes, I _do.”_ Ben responded, his tone hard.

“I trust the council, Ben. If they trust this source, then so do I.”

“Do you trust them more than me?”

“I…” Rey frowned. “You’re not being fair.”

Ben crossed her arms stubbornly and looked off to the side.

Rey sighed. “So it might be a waste of time. Either way it doesn’t hurt to check. Besides, it’s going to be a quick trip. We have to be on Coruscant in a few days to…get fitted for the gala.” Rey shuddered.

Ben almost smiled. _Almost._ “I’m sure you’ll be quite a sight in a dress.”

Rey’s cheeks turned pink in mortification more than flattery. “You…you don’t think they’ll make me wear a dress, do you?”

She said it with such disdain that this time Ben _did_ smile. “Surely they told you.”

“They absolutely _did not!”_ Rey gripped her face. “Oh Stars, and Leia said I might have to dance too. I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Don’t be melodramatic. It’s not that demanding.”

“ _You_ know how to dance?” She stared at him incredulously. Sure, it made sense if he had attended these sorts of events before, but something about the former Supreme Leader twirling in a circle to music was horrifying.

Ben wordlessly rose and extended his hand. Rey gazed blankly at him.

“Get up,” he said, irritation lining his voice now.

Rey rose to her feet, eyeing him warily.

“Now, give me your hand.”

“This isn’t some sort of trick is it?” But her hand slid into his easily.

He tugged her closer, and Rey stumbled. “I trust you know how to count?”

“Of course,” Rey snapped, her sudden nerves making her lash out. The hand that wasn’t connected to his flailed uselessly by her side until he took her wrist and guided it to his shoulder. She gripped his uniform tightly as his arm encircled her waist.

“Follow my lead,” he told her.

Easier said than done.

Rey supposed that under the right circumstances-mood lighting, music, _better dancing-_ this could have been quite enjoyable, romantic even. As it were, she spent more time crushing Ben’s feet than she did actually dancing.

“Don’t look at you feet,” he hissed, “and stop trying to lead. That’s my job.”

“You’ve always been a poor leader,” she retorted, cringing at the severity of her statement. Ben, however, only seemed amused.

“You do realize that if you can’t master a basic three count, it’s going to be downright abysmal when you’re in your dress.”

Rey blanched. “Don’t remind me.”

They had stopped moving at this point, and Rey suspected it was because Ben’s toes were crying out in mercy. Their arms encircled each other, mirroring the starting position, and Rey found this was her favorite thus far.

The door to Ben’s room slid open and Leia walked in, pausing with a raised eyebrow when she took in the scene. Rey practically leapt away from him, her face flaming. Ben, while doing extraordinarily well at keeping color off his face, looked downright appalled at his mother’s unfortunate timing.

“Rey,” Leia said coolly, “I didn’t expect to find you here. That is, until I was informed by the guard you came specifically to relay a message on my orders?”

Rey’s mouth bobbed like a fish. “I…”

Leia held up a hand, and Rey felt even more humiliated when her lips curved the tiniest bit.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Ben drawled, putting on a front of nonchalance.  

Leia’s smile faded, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them. “I’ve just received an urgent transmission from the council. Their source says there’s been another sighting of Hux on Tatooine. You’re to leave tonight.”

 

\---

 

“Is everything alright, Poe?” Rey asked a while later, when the _Falcon_ was in light speed.

Poe shook his head. “I just have a bad feeling about this.”

“About Tatooine?”

“I got into it with the council earlier,” Poe admitted, which did not surprise Rey. The pilot often had a habit of sticking his nose into the business of his betters.

“About the assignment?”

“Something’s not right. A guy like Hux doesn’t go to Tatooine. Takodana maybe, but not Tatooine.”

Rey was silent, finding it wise not to mention Ben had said the exact same thing earlier. She shrugged. “A planet is a planet I suppose,” she mused, although she was beginning to feel troubled as well.

“You don’t wanna mess around with Tatooine,” Finn piped in from over in the corner. He stood up, flexing his newly healed shoulder. “I went there once, when I was training in the Order. It’s a nasty place.”

“It can’t be any worse than Jakku,” Rey said, and then felt a little ignorant when everyone, including BB-8 gave her a blank stare.  

“Trust me. We don’t want to be there long,” Poe concluded, moving over to the panels to check the _Falcon’s_ progress. “The sooner we get there the sooner we can leave for Coruscant.”

The craft landed on a bleak, desert planet several minutes later. As Rey said her brief good-byes to Chewie, she noticed Poe insistently murmuring something to BB-8. When the team departed the craft without the droid, Rey became curious.

“Why is BB-8 staying aboard?”

Poe ran a hand through his hair. “Tatooine’s the type of place where brawls break out over the rustiest of spare parts. I can’t imagine what some desert mongrel would do if they got ahold of Bee-Bee.” Poe smiled sheepishly, as he probably remembered Rey’s scavenger past. “Ah, no offense.”

She shrugged, as she put up her hood. “None taken.” But he had a point. When Rey herself had first stumbled across BB-8, the very first thing on her mind had been how many portions she could sell him for…it wasn’t something she liked to think about now.

As the group trekked through the marketplace, Rey began to understand why Poe didn’t want to linger here. There was a seedy quality about the bazaars they passed through, a variety of strange and ugly creatures arguing over the prices of nearly worthless items. Rey got an unpleasant taste in her mouth when she walked by a group of dirty, human children as they huddled in fear before their slaver. One of them murmured something unintelligible and received a harsh smack from his gluttonous master.

Rey scowled and made to move forward, but was stalled when Ben placed a hand on her shoulder.

_Don’t. It’s not you place,_ he told her through their bond. His eyes narrowed beneath his hood in insistence.

Rey scowled fiercely at him for a moment before deflating. He was right of course. And even if it was her place, they weren’t to make a scene. She sent a regretful look at the children before turning her back on them, trying to squash the queasy feeling of guilt.

“It might just be me, but I feel like if Hux were here, he’d stick out like a sore thumb,” Finn mused.

“I agree,” Ben said, ignoring the way Finn’s eyes bugged out from his agreement. “Hux isn’t known for frequenting slaver’s markets or fighting rings.”

“Maybe we should circle back?” Rey suggested, as the group navigated into the thickest part of the marketplace.

Poe sighed in aggravation. “That’s our best bet. I just don’t understand why the council would send us here if they don’t-”

“Stop!” Ben yelled, and Rey’s back stiffened as her senses washed down her back like ice water. In the next moment the marketplace was swamped with smoke, heavy and choking, the kind that brought Wookiees to their knees.

In the mess of it all Rey heard Finn shout her name, and then she felt a sharp spike in the side of her neck.

Then she felt nothing at all.

 

\---

 

She awoke gasping, covered in sweat and dirt, her hair sticking to her face and neck. She tried to bring her arms down to her chest and realized they were shackled to a cement wall with medieval, iron chains.

She was in a cell.

The walls were a tan, dusted concrete, the floors wooden and covered in smatterings of hay. There was a single barred window in the upper left corner, and a meager stream of sunlight trailed in to land on her feet.

Her white uniform was stained with blood and grime, and it was torn down one shoulder. She had a small laceration by her knee, but other than that she was uninjured. That was when Rey glanced down at her waist.

Her saber was missing.

A sudden spike of fear and fury shot through her as she tugged uselessly against the chains, kicking and grunting. She was so caught up in her violent attempts to escape, she almost didn’t notice the movements in the corner of the cell.

Rey’s outrage momentarily faded when she discovered she wasn’t alone. There were four other women there, chained up like her. Their ages varied, but the oldest couldn’t be more than thirty, the youngest, looked about sixteen.

“Where am I?” Rey asked, her voice strangely calm despite the situation.

One of the women, a dirty faced blonde with several missing teeth spoke up. “You’re in Bujjorg the Hutt’s chamber. For fighters.”

“Fighters?” Rey echoed. “I don’t understand.”

“You’re in a holding cell for the largest fighting ring on Tatooine, love,” a woman with a shaved head rasped.

Rey tried to stand up, but the chains held her firmly in place. “I need to find my friends.”

The same woman laughed, a joyless, sickening sound. “No one gets outta ‘ere, love. You’re Bujjorg’s now. Musta liked the sight of you walking in the market place.” Her eyes roamed over Rey. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

“I venture a lot,” Rey lied offhandedly, her mind racing as she thought about possible ways to escape. Just then, she felt a familiar brushing in her mind and she could have cried in relief.

_Rey!_

_Ben, I’m here. I’m alright. Where are you?_

_In some foul smelling prison._

_Are Poe and Finn there with you?_

_Yes._

Rey sighed in relief. _My cellmates say we are in Bujjorg the Hutt’s fighting ring?_ Her blood ran cold when Ben swore. _What? What does that mean?_

_It means we’re about to be slaughtered for entertainment._

_They took my saber. I don’t know where it is,_ Rey said through the bond, her panic picking up again.

_They confiscated our blasters too. I…hold on._

Rey waited.

_FN-2187 says he saw a glimpse of one of the matches as we were being carted. They throw everyone in together. Men and women._

_His_ name _is_ Finn. _And that’s good, isn’t it? We can fight whatever it is together and-_

_Rey, we’ll be lucky if they give us spears. I’ve been to these types of rings as a spectator._

_And I’ve_ fought _in these rings,_ she reminded him. _On Jakku. Not to the death, but I know enough._

_Rey-_

_We_ have _to fight. What other choice do we have?_

_…Fair enough._

Rey paused, a sickening feeling traveling up her stomach as she thought of something.

_Ben, promise me something._

_…What?_ His tone was wary.

_Poe doesn’t have the same hand-to-hand experience as the rest of us. When we’re out there…we need to help him._ All _of us._

He was silent.

_Ben,_ please.

She could practically feel his sigh in her mind. _Fine._

“Reckon she’s a witch?” the youngest girl in the cell asked loudly, jolting Rey from her internal conversation with Ben. “With the way she’s muttering and all?”

Rey turned to the other women. “Have any of you ever fought in a fighting ring before?”

All four women nodded. “Not in Bujjorg’s ring, though,” the blonde woman said. “No one fights in Bujjorg’s ring more than once.” Her eyes were dull.

It suddenly occurred to Rey that none of these women seemed scared. Had they truly resigned themselves to this poor excuse for a life? A newfound determination bloomed in Rey’s chest as she gazed over her cellmates. She hoped she could get them out alive as well.

Less than an hour had passed before men with sickly gray skin and beaded eyes entered the cell and forced the women to their feet. Rey stared down at her toes as her clothing was torn from her body, falling around her in angelic shreds. She was given a shabby two-piece slip of clothing that left little to the imagination, but Rey was certain that was the point. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the youngest girl wince as one of the guards drifted a hand up her leg. Rey took a step forward, her face twisted in outrage and her fist drawn, but she was struck so soundly in the jaw by one of the guards that for a moment, her vision went blurry.

The five women were led down a corridor that smelled of blood and urine. When they came to the opening of the ring, Rey had to squint her eyes so she could adjust to the sudden rain of light. When she made sense of her surroundings she realized what was in front of her was not so different from the underground arena on Jakku.

Of course, this area was much larger. The sandy dirt was covered in bloodstains so large and fresh, Rey assumed the matches here ran like clock work. Up in the stand there sat a massive Hutt who she could only guess had to be Bujjorg. His bulk was coated in a slippery red film, and he had human and alien species of women alike coiled around his pus-covered skin.

Rey turned her chin as the male fighters were brought into view, their uniforms cut around the shoulders, nothing but a dirty rope serving as a belt. Her eyes met Ben’s across the arena, her face impassive. He watched her similarly, and although they kept their expressions neutral, Rey sensed the mutual waging of their emotions beneath the surface.

The guards released their chains, and they fell with a heavy clang to the ground. The men and the women fighters were herded to the center of the arena until their backs were against each other. Clubs and staffs were tossed at their feet, and everyone made to scramble for a weapon. Rey’s hands tightened around a staff, the wood worn and faded, but strong enough to suffice. Ben held a similar weapon, while Finn and Poe both held clubs.

“I don’t know about you guys,” Poe said carefully, examining his club, “but I’m starting to think Hux isn’t actually here.”

Luckily Finn was there to hit Poe in the ribs, otherwise Rey would have.

“What are we gonna do?” Finn whispered frantically, sweat already beading on his forehead.

“We play along,” Ben responded, his eyes darting back and forth as the guards backed to the perimeters of the ring, preparing to open another gate.

“What?!”

“He’s right,” Rey whispered back, her fingers curling around the staff. “There’s a good chance Bujjorg doesn’t know Ben and I are both Force sensitive. We can use that to our advantage.”

“If we live that long,” Finn squeaked, and at that moment the gate fell down.

Ten beastly men, all human, to Rey’s surprise, strode forward with weapons far superior to theirs. Most of them were bare chested, and few had even a single scratch on their skin. Their eyes gleamed with bloodlust, and Rey knew even if they were here against their will, they had grown fond of needless killing.

She took a deep breath, feeling Ben’s shoulder brush against her own.

_Don’t be scared,_ he told her, and if the situation weren’t so dire, she would have laughed at the absurdity of it.

_You better not die,_ she replied.

His hand snaked up to squeeze her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gala will be soon I promise!
> 
> Theory time: 
> 
> Alright. It's time to talk about the Emperor. 
> 
> The theory that I've heard is that Palpatine created Rey, and that HE was the one who is trying to connect Rey and Kylo, and push them along the path toward darkness. While I do like to think that Palpatine is lurking and watching over them, it also just brings about the question of why was Snoke even a necessary character then? I think we really need an explanation regarding Snoke, even if it's just a line of dialogue.
> 
> My opinion: I do believe Palpatine is involved in some way, but not necessarily through Rey and Kylo. I do think it's possible, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm also a little doubtful that it was entirely Snoke who bridged their minds. I think JJ originally intended for Rey and Kylo to always have a connection (she is the light half he tried to destroy, she was born when his mind was beginning to be corrupted, and so Snoke demanding Kylo kill her to complete his training was really to kill the light half of himself once and for all, which he couldn't do). I think Rian's take on Snoke just being the one to bridge their minds is a bit too simplistic, given what we already know.
> 
> Who knows? Maybe JJ will take the opportunity to steer his intentions for them back on track. Let me know your thoughts!


	5. Chapter 5

_“You’re injured. You need help! You’re bleeding all over the floor!”_

_“Rey…just go…”_

_“Don’t make me choose, Ben. Please don’t make me choose.”_

_“You…have…”_

_“Ben? Ben!”_

 

\---

 

Rey had fought for her life many times. Today was no different.

When one of Bujjorg’s main fighters rushed her, it felt like second nature to twirl her staff and offset the balance of her mighty opponent. She watched in satisfaction as he tumbled, but she had no time to gloat. She couldn’t land a fatal blow with her weapon, not on someone this large. Instead she went for his legs, clipping her staff harshly against his shin, and trying not to flinch when the bone cracked beneath her blow.

He fell with a cry, and Rey rushed in then, stamping hard on the wrist that held his titanium, bladed staff. His bones wrenched beneath her foot, and she twisted her heel for good measure. She bent down and swiped his weapon and tossed her other one aside, for it was now obsolete. Her blood chilled as she heard Bujjorg chortle in pleasant surprise at her dexterity.

The Hutt was the least of her problems.

Rey’s eyes darted around the clearing, and bile rose in her throat as one of the male prisoners who had come out with her friends had his skull brutally smashed against the concrete perimeter. Her gaze went to Poe then; the normally dexterous pilot seemed clumsy and unsure on the ground as he fought for his life.

She surged towards him but was blocked by another gargantuan man. There was one for each of the ten prisoners, and as the latter quickly fell, the survivors became outnumbered.

Rey was shoved back forcefully by her opponent, the impact causing her to stumble. She regained her balancing quickly, far quicker than her rival had expected, for she spun in a tight circle and swung out, slicing along the man’s throat. She let out a yell of surprise as his blood spurted into her face. She had never killed someone in such a messy and horrible way.

She shoved down her revulsion, as she tripped away from scene, wiping the red from her eyes. She nearly fell over the body of the woman with the shaved head, and she knew she had to ignore it, or else she would vomit.

Finn was holding his own quite well, but he was always the most expressive out of the bunch, and she could clearly see the fear and fatigue written on his face. Poe was dodging more than attacking due to his lack of hand-to-hand training, but he moved with a speed Rey had not seen from him. Ben was currently fending off two opponents, and she could feel his exhaustion through the bond, so she made her decision.

Her weapon scraped along the back of one his assailants, and with a roar that barely sounded human, the man whipped around and engaged with her. He was much stronger than the other men she had faced, and Rey was thrown off her feet as he simply pushed his hand directly into her chest. She fell on her back with a grunt, holding her weapon out to block a blow to the throat. Her arms trembled, and she knew she was in trouble. She couldn’t squirm out of the way without being decapitated. Her head turned away instinctually as the blade of the fighter’s weapon came closer to her, and she saw Bujjorg watching with large, soulless eyes.

The sunlight caught something resting on a table in front of him, and Rey’s breath caught as she realized what it was.

Her lightsaber.

She wanted so desperately to reach out for it, to summon it with the Force, but she knew if she loosened her hold for even a moment her head would be sliced off her shoulders. She might not be able to retrieve it but…

_Ben!_

The call was instinctual, as were the array of emotions and thoughts she sent to him through their connection. She could practically feel him processing them as he fought, and from her line of sight, she saw the saber on Bujjorg’s table fly from view.

Bujjorg let out a roar of outrage, his jovial demeanor gone as the saber flew into Ben’s hand, the blue-white blade igniting at once.

Rey barely had time to turn her chin when her assailant’s head came tumbling next to her, cleanly sliced from his body. His body collapsed on her with thud, and she wriggled out from under it, gasping. She scrambled to her knees watching as Ben moved around the arena, his arms glistening with sweat, but his face set in a determined mask.

It had been more than a month since he had held a lightsaber, and he was in his element.

Rey watched with a pulse of something strange in her chest as he went directly to Poe’s aid first, honoring her request, despite his malevolent feelings for the pilot. He easily stepped in front of Poe, and spun the weapon, slicing the arm off his attacker. Rey jumped to her feet, gripping her weapon as she came to stand by Finn and the sixteen year old, who had remarkably managed to survive.

Rey and Finn took down another opponent as Ben moved effortlessly through the rest of the attackers. When the last one fell, the four of them, plus the sixteen-year-old girl, were the only survivors.

Bujjorg was not pleased. He made to stand on his feet, and some of the girls by his side tumbled to the ground with a yelp. Rey stared up at him in exhaustion; her arms felt so much like jelly that her hold on the bladed staff was shaky. If he were about to send more fighters in, they wouldn’t survive, even with a lightsaber.

That’s when a metal quarrel encased in plasma energy pierced the Hutt’s heart.

Rey blinked in shock, trails of sweat streaming down her face as Chewbacca let out a roar from behind her. She turned and discovered he had climbed over the other side of the stand, and was waving his bow caster at them.

Poe laughed from across the arena, wiping at some of the cuts on his arms. “Now that’s what I call perfect timing, Chewie.”

 

\---

 

Rey practically begged the teenage girl to come with them, but she refused. Tatooine, despite its flaws, was her home, and she would never leave it. As she walked away from them, and from the _Falcon,_ Rey couldn’t help but see herself in the girl. What bound her to this awful planet? Was she waiting for someone as well?

Rey started when the metal hilt of her saber was placed into her hands. She stared up at Ben, noticing strands of his hair still stuck to his face.

“Here,” he said simply.

Her fingers curled around her weapon. “Thank you,” she said softly, and she really meant more than just for retrieving her saber.

Ben nodded, suddenly looking uncomfortable, as he moved into the _Falcon._ Finn and Poe watched him go, bewilderment on their faces. Rey smiled at them, pleased they had been able to get a glimpse of the Ben she knew.

“Whoever this source of the council’s is, they are no friend of ours,” Poe said later, when they were on their way to Coruscant.

“Yeah, no kidding!” Finn responded, clutching his jacket to his chest. Luckily he had had time to find his prized possession after Bujjorg had fallen. He paused and then handed it to Rey so she could properly cover herself. “We’ve got to speak to Leia about this.”

“I should have listened to you,” Rey said to Ben, and he looked stunned she had directly addressed him in front of her friends. “You were right. The council’s source was illegitimate.”

Poe glanced back and forth between Rey and Ben, but if he wanted to know more about what she meant, he didn’t question it. The pilot leaned back in his chair, BB-8 rolling in next to him.

“This might actually be a good thing,” Poe mused, rubbing his chin.

Everyone, including Chewie, stared at him for that.

_“Good?”_ Finn spoke for the rest of them. “How is almost getting murdered for a Hutt’s enjoyment a _good_ thing?”

“Because this proves the council’s system is flawed,” Poe responded coolly, crossing his arms. “It gives us a reason to do things our way now.”

Rey had to admit; working under the council’s watchful eye wasn’t ideal. There were restraints with what they did and where they went. If they could work on this mission by themselves, they might find more success.

Chewie roared, and Poe nodded in agreement. “Chewie’s right. We can worry about this later, after the gala.”

Rey’s stomach dropped. “Just how sophisticated is this event going to be?” she questioned nervously.

Poe gave her a mischievous smile. “Just enough for you to wear a dress.”

“And heels,” Finn added, laughter in his voice.

Rey gawked. “Did _everyone_ know about this except for me?”

“Yes,” Ben deadpanned, and Poe and Finn burst out laughing. Even Ben seemed amused.

Rey crossed her arms, but she found she couldn’t be too upset. This was the most at ease the group had been since the mission started so she didn’t complain, even if it was at her expense.

 

\---

 

Rey yelped as the air was squeezed out of her. She didn’t understand the need to take so many measurements. A dress was a dress wasn’t it?

“Sorry, miss,” an elderly seamstress said, but she didn’t sound the least bit apologetic.

“How much longer?” Rey wheezed, trying not to seem impatient but failing.

The woman stood back and raised an unamused eyebrow. “Why, we’ve only just begun.”

Rey gazed back in horror.

Coruscant in itself was quite lovely, but utterly overwhelming. There were these buildings, silver and shiny, that stretched so far into the sky, Rey was surprised they didn’t break the atmosphere. The air traffic buzzed about, emitting so much air pollution that one could not even see the stars at night. Everyone she passed wore clothing of the finest silk, twisting in elegant patterns. Rey hated that the first thing she thought when she saw them was how much they would be worth.

She missed her friends. And she missed Ben. It had been a hectic couple of days, what with preparing for the gala and all. Leia had stopped by to visit with her, making sure to go over proper etiquette with her, and then looking sympathetic when she became frustrated with herself. Leia, bless her, knew this wasn’t her forte.

“I have been told you and the Solo boy will be the only ones to wear white,” the woman said, jolting her from her thoughts. “The council has asked for this.”

“What? Why?” Rey asked, blinking in confusion.

The woman’s forehead crinkled into a frown. “Because you have brought him to the Light, no? The rest of the galaxy wishes to see this. Symbolically.” She hobbled to a drawer and withdrew some very soft looking, white material. “This will do nicely. You will be a handsome pair.”

Rey blushed at this. The council had clearly put a lot of thought into how she and Ben were to be presented together. Her vision from Ahch-To flooded into her mind. She had envisioned them standing side by side in the Light. Was the gala meant to be that vision?

Hours later, when the fitting was done, Rey found Finn in a pleasant looking courtyard with Poe. There were stone pathways that twisted in between extravagant plant life, with the occasional marble bench dotting the sides. The two men sat on one of these benches. They looked so involved in conversation Rey wondered if it would be impolite to ruin the moment. Just when she was about to turn around and head back inside, Finn caught her eye and beckoned her.

Rey came to stand in front of the bench, brushing a bit of pollen off her shoulder. “Have you spoken to the council?” she asked Poe.

Poe laughed. “Ah, can’t take a break for even a minute, huh kid?” When Rey just stared back at him he waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. Just relax until after this party’s over.”

“Relax?” Rey said incredulously. “Weren’t you just as apprehensive for this event?”

“That’s before I knew there would be an open bar.” Poe winked at her. “That should be good news for you too.”

“Drinking’s never interested me,” Rey said honestly. She had stolen a bottle of liquor on Jakku once, when she was eighteen. She had taken a swig and had hated the taste so much that she decided it would be better used as a disinfectant.

“I’ve never had the opportunity,” Finn admitted, looking at Poe. “Maybe I’ll give it a shot.”

“That’s my man,” Poe said jovially, clapping Finn on the back. “Trust me, it’s the only thing worthwhile about these events. Well, besides my company, of course.”

“Oh, of _course,_ ” Finn responded, grinning back.

Rey’s eyes glided between her two friends, at how effortlessly happy they were in each other’s company. Suddenly she _did_ feel like she was intruding.

“I’ve got to go and meditate, but I’ll see you both tomorrow evening, yeah?”

“Yeah, Rey, definitely!” Finn came up to embrace her in one of his signature bear hugs. “And don’t be nervous, you’ll do great!”

Rey smiled.

 

\---

 

She did actually meditate that night, finding it soothed her nerves over the upcoming gala. She had never asked to be the center of attention, but the entire galaxy had her eye on her. And on Ben. With her.

Oh, Stars.

“Thinking about me again?” he asked.

Rey was so captivated by her thoughts she was startled into a short scream. She covered her mouth in her shock before realizing the bond had manifested without her realizing, a rarity. Ben stood across from her, in loose fitting clothing that looked like some sort of nightwear.

“Were you spying on me?” she asked indignantly, rising to her feet.

Ben snorted. “Hardly. The Force connects us when it wants, or have you forgotten?”

“Where are you?” Rey questioned, ignoring his barb.

He glanced off to the side. “A chamber of some sort.”

“Not a cell?”

“No.” He hesitated. “Dameron found it unnecessary.”

Rey smiled. “I told you he would-”

“It’s still guarded.”

“Oh.”

Ben’s gaze traveled downwards. “How are your hands?”

“Oh, they’re alright.” She turned over her palms to examine them. They had broken out in blisters the day after their journey to Tatooine, probably due to how fiercely she had gripped her staff. “I was given bacta.”

“Good.” Ben nodded.

There were a few beats of silence, and Rey found she was a little awkward. She was so incredibly nervous for this gala, and the idea of her and Ben being on display was practically her worst nightmare. Their relationship…whatever their relationship was, it was private, and not something she wanted to expose to the galaxy.

She thought back to the kiss he had given her, so careful and so brief. Her lips tingled from the memory. What would have happened if she had leaned in and reciprocated?

“Do you think we’ll have to dance?” she blurted, and he looked taken aback by such a random question, so she reigned herself in a bit. “I mean, do you think it will be expected of us?”

He stared at her. “I don’t particularly like dancing. But I will. If you would like.”

Rey shuffled her feet. “I think it would be best for the entire galaxy if I didn’t,” she muttered, and she heard him chuckle, soft and low in his chest.

She began to feel a little less nervous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, the gala, and quite a bit of romance!


	6. Chapter 6

_“Rey, come on. Step aside.”_

_“He’s going to die, Poe.”_

_“You don’t owe him anything.”_

_“I do! That night in the throne room, he_ saved _me.”_

_“He_ spared _you. There’s a difference. And look where it got him.”_

_“The First Order is no longer a threat. Please-”_

_“Why do you care what happens to him?”_

\---

 

 

Rey stepped into the dress of white silk, lifting it over her body until it fell along the outer edge of her shoulders. A rope of thin, gold thread wrapped around her torso in a cross, and then disappeared down her back. The neck of the dress fell in a swoop, revealing a hint of her breast. Everything fit tightly at the waist, but then fanned out in an A-line, long enough to almost cover her feet.

She had convinced her stylist to give her sandals instead of heels, thank Stars. The woman had been reluctant at first, but once Rey demonstrated how immobile she would be, she relented.

Rey poked a finger into her hair. It was up in her signature three buns, a must, the stylist insisted, but it was created in such an elaborate way that Rey knew she never could have replicated it on her own. There was light powder on her eyelids, the color of a warm brown, and her lips were sticky with colored clay.

Rey wiped her mouth when her stylist wasn’t looking.

Her saber was clipped to her side, attached against the gold threading. This was a nonnegotiable feature for Rey. She didn’t care if this would be the most secure event in the entire universe, she would not be attending unarmed.

As she moved into the hallway and walked down the corridors, she heard the humming of people talking in the distance. By the volume she could already tell there were hundreds waiting, and for one horrifying moment she became lightheaded.

_Deep breaths,_ she told herself. _You just have to stand there and look strong._  

She came to a massive doorway, elaborately covered in turquoise carvings and jewels, any of which would have been enough to feed her for months on Jakku. There was a small crowd gathered by the door and Rey scanned the faces, feeling a twinge of relief when she recognized Finn and Rose by the front. Rey pushed through the crowd, murmuring small apologies as she went. She made eye contact with Rose first, whose eyes almost bugged out of her skull when she saw Rey.

“Oh my Stars, Rey! You just, you look, you’re just….wow!” Rose gestured wildly with her arms. Rose herself was dressed in a simple, pale, pink, tea-length gown, her hair twisted into two tiny buns on either side of her head.

Rey smiled. “Thank you. You look very lovely.”

“Yeah, but _you_ look  _amazing!”_

“You really do, Rey,” Finn said, smiling warmly. He was dressed in dark tan wrappings of silk, with a maroon undershirt peeking out from underneath his robes. He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Not too nervous?”

“I feel like I’m about to faint,” Rey admitted.

“Oh, don’t do that! You’ll be so great, Rey! You have nothing to worry about,” Rose insisted, beaming.

“She’s right you know,” Leia added, coming up to Rey’s side with Poe. Leia wore a sparkling midnight blue dress with a long satin cardigan, while Poe was dressed in a similar fashion as Finn, although his undershirt was Resistance orange. “Remember our lessons, and don’t forget to smile.” Leia gave one of her own smiles then, the wry sort that reminded Rey of Luke. She wished he could be there with her tonight.

Rey nodded, taking a deep breath. “Brilliant. Alright.” Her eyes scanned the crowd again. “Where’s Ben?”

“He’s already in there, brooding in the corner,” Poe told her, grinning.

“He was never one for social events,” Leia mentioned, her eyes twinkling. She glanced at Rey. “The council thought it best if you were to enter last. They’ll announce your entrance, and then you’ll take your seat beside Ben. It’s to show solidarity,” she added, when Rey blinked at her.

Wonderful. So the entire room would be focused on her as she entered. Thank Stars she wasn’t wearing heels.

“Don’t be nervous, you’ll be great,” Poe said, squeezing her arm and giving her a peck on the cheek, before moving towards the entrance with Leia.

“See you in there, Rey,” Finn whispered, giving her a pat as Rose waved to her.

More and more guests filed in until she was the only one in the corridor. She began pacing back and forth, her fingertips gliding over her saber, because that was currently the only thing on her that felt familiar. She wanted to reach out with the bond to speak to Ben, but her focus was so all over the place she couldn’t concentrate long enough to bridge the connection.

It didn’t matter, because suddenly she was hearing her name, and the doors opened and she was walking and there were so many kriffing eyes on her that she instantly felt sweat forming on her lower back. Rey stumbled for a moment, her mind blank, but then slowly Leia’s lessons began to filter back into her mind. Chin up. Back straight. Don’t look down. Hold the side of her dress just a tad.

Before she knew it, she was walking like she was somebody.

Hundreds of people were whispering, some clapping, others bowing. She, the last Jedi, the final hope for the Second Galactic War, was in their presence, and they were not worthy of her. At least, that was what she was led to believe.

Rey turned sharply as the path ended, and she began to walk down the seemingly endless table, past chairs where faces of all species blurred together. She caught a glimpse of Finn smiling nervously, and Poe winking, a drink already in his hand. Her eyes traveled further down the table, to the very last seat, and there sat a stranger.

She knew it was him of course, but he looked so…different.

His robes were an off-white color, but they nearly matched hers in design and material. His hair, while not styled in a particular fashion, was flowing and glossy, more so than usual. He was standing, his body rigid and his face strange. His expression was hard to read, but she guessed he was also nervous, or at the very least uncomfortable, for his jaw was tightly clenched.

As she came by her place at the table, his eyes ran over her face and then dipped down to her dress. Rey’s skin bloomed a bright red, which she was sure contrasted dreadfully with her attire. She couldn’t bear to look at him anymore when he was staring like that, so she just gazed blankly at her chair, and then at the people in front of her. She frowned. They seemed to be waiting. Waiting for her?

She almost jumped when Ben’s hand slipped into her own, and she looked at him curiously. The other hand moved to her lower back, which thanks to the design of her dress was very much bare. He was leading her to her seat. She was so frozen and shell shocked by the whole experience he could have led her out the window if he had wanted.

Finally, when they had both taken their seats, the rest of the noble people did as well, and jovial music and applause filled the air.

Finn patted her shoulder from the seat next to her. “So far so good,” he whispered, and she gave him a weak smile. She chanced a glimpse at Ben, who sat to her right, but he was staring hard at his dinner plate.

There were a series of announcements led by some nobles, then Leia, then Poe, and for one terrifying instant Rey thought she would have to speak, but luckily it didn’t come to that. By the time dinner was served Poe, fell into the chair across from her, his cheeks rosy.

“ _Finally,_ you’d think they were going to starve us to death after we’ve won their war for them,” he said jokingly, taking another sip of his drink. He beckoned over a server and took a few more drinks from the platter, sliding one to Finn, then Rey, and then surprisingly, Ben. “On me.”

“I wasn’t aware you had started a tab,” Ben commented dryly, for the drinks of course didn’t cost them a single credit.

In normal circumstances maybe Poe would have snapped something back, but he merely shrugged.

Finn examined his drink before taking a sip. “It’s not that bad,” he admitted to Rey.

Rey finally decided to try a drink for herself, and he was right; it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. She periodically sipped it during the meal, which was the most stressful part of the evening so far. Ben had to stop her from drinking the water that one was supposed to wash their hands in, but honestly how was she to know? About halfway through the dinner, Rey all but gave up on utensil placement, and just used the biggest fork in front of her.

As people were finishing up their dinners, someone rubbed against her foot under the table. The top of their foot curved around her calf in a provocative way, and Rey glanced at Poe in shock.

“What are you doing?” she whispered across the table to him, and he frowned in confusion. Rey watched his eyes flicker back and forth between her and Finn before he burst out laughing, and she gaped as Finn’s cheeks turned a rosy shade.

“What?” Ben asked her a bit agitatedly from not knowing what was going on.

“I don’t think you want to know,” Rey told him honestly, but she took another sip of her drink to hide her laugh.

Her smile faded when she saw Ben nod and then quietly look down at his plate again. He hadn’t eaten much, and every now and then he would glance at her when he probably thought she wouldn’t notice. If Rey didn’t know any better, she would say he was shy.

Her heart warmed. The man in front of her, this version of him, was more Ben Solo than she had seen thus far. He was so out of his element, so grumpy, and so utterly raw, that it made her want to…well, she hadn’t quite figured out that part yet.

After her second drink Rey began to feel a pleasant dizziness in her mind, and she supposed she could understand why people did this. When Poe tried to hand her another glass, however, she declined, knowing she had to keep her wits about her.

People were starting to dance. In fact, more people were dancing than were sitting, which made Rey anxious again. She didn’t want to appear rude, but she _definitely_ didn’t want to dance.

It appeared as if she wouldn’t have to, for some of the nobles were taking the time to chat amongst themselves, and several began to gravitate toward her section of the table. This presented a whole other problem. Rey wasn’t a good dancer, but she also wasn’t a good talker.

Ben placed a hand on her forearm. “Don’t overthink it,” he murmured, his lips so close they brushed the shell of her ear. She stifled a shiver. “If you don’t know what to say, just ask them a question. Nobles love to talk about themselves.”

It turned out to be solid advice. Rey was saved from having to detail what it was that made her ‘so magnificent’ as the last Jedi, and instead only had to endure dull, political gossip. When the group cleared away, she had lost Finn and Poe, and discovered they were dancing clumsily with Rose on the ballroom floor. She smiled at the sight; at least someone was having fun.

“I suppose you don’t want to dance?” Ben asked lowly.

Rey shrugged. “Not really. Do you?”

Ben gave her a look that answered her question as if it were a foolish one, and she giggled. Actually giggled. His eyes widened at that, which just made her laugh harder, until tears were coming out of her eyes.

“Are you alright?” he questioned, looking like he was starting to get concerned for her welfare.

She waved him off. “I’m fine. I just…is there any way we could step out for a moment?”

Ben gazed around the room. “We shouldn’t,” he said, “but I really don’t care.”

Rey grinned as he subtly took her hand, and led her through the crowd, and then through a back exit. It was much cooler in the corridor, and Rey released a massive sigh as the fresh air touched her skin. They continued to walk down the hallway, putting as much distance from the ballroom as possible.

“It feels nice to get away,” Rey said, tucking a piece of hair that had fallen out of her hairstyle back into place. “It wasn’t as awful as I thought though,” she admitted.

“It’s easier when you’ve had a few.”

“Do you speak from experience?” Rey questioned mischievously.

He snorted, running a hand through his hair, but he didn’t answer.

They stopped in front of a beautiful archway, one where Rey could see the rest of the city buzzing in nightlife. It really was quite a sight, far different than any she was used to. Tomorrow they would have to leave.

“We’ll be traveling back to headquarters soon,” Rey mused, making conversation. “The council allegedly wants to meet with us. Maybe they’ll apologize for Tatooine.”

Ben scoffed. “I doubt it.”

Rey continued to stare out the archway. “Me too.” She surveyed him. “I like seeing you like this.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

She gestured to his clothes, to his face. “Like this. Like yourself.”

“I’ve always been myself.”

She shook her head. “Not so effortlessly. This is…it’s Ben Solo.”

Ben watched her carefully. “And that pleases you?”

Something warm and delicious uncoiled low in her stomach, sinking between her legs.

“Yes,” she said softly, marveling at the way the moonlight touched his scar.

They were close. Closer than they normally were, but this time Rey found she could breathe just fine. She watched him watching her, noticed the way his eyes trailed over her face and neck. His eyes went to her lips, and when her tongue came out to moisten them, he was that shy boy she had seen at the dinner table again.

Rey had asked him to give her time, but now she was done waiting.

She came up to him and stood on her tiptoes, pressing a chaste and clumsy kiss on his lips. He stiffened in surprise, and for one mortifying moment she thought she had done something horribly wrong, but in the next his hands were on her waist and he had her pressed against the wall.

He didn’t kiss her at first. His face dipped to her jaw, her neck, as his nose and lips carefully glided along her skin. Rey shuddered, quite obviously, but she wasn’t embarrassed.

His lips found the corner of her mouth, and then finally slid to cover her lips. She responded to him shyly, not exactly sure if what she was doing was considered adequate. He tugged on her bottom lip with his teeth, and Rey’s hands gripped his uniform as he slid his tongue into her mouth. She let him explore her for a few moments before she pushed back with her own tongue, surprised when he made a noise in the back of his throat.

His hands, which had been on her waist up until this point, slowly glided up her torso to wind around her back. Rey felt his bare fingers touch the vertebrae in her spine and she shivered violently.

He pressed a few more kisses to her lips before pulling back, and looking at her, slightly out of breath. Rey gazed back, her cheeks red. She rubbed her lips together to get rid of some of the tingling.

“You know what this is,” he said quietly, his voice a bit raspy. “What this will mean for you.”

Rey nodded.

“Dameron and FN-”

_“Ben-”_ she cut in sharply.

“-And _Finn_ will hardly be pleased.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Since when do you care about what they think?”

He glared at her. “I don’t. Besides it’s not their fucking business.”

Rey sighed, already knowing she would regret this next admission. “I’m not…I like having something private with you,” she admitted, glancing shyly at the ground. “The bond was ours, but now, everyone knows. This-” she gestured between the two of them. “-Could just be ours. At least for now.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’d lie to them? Seems beneath your morals of friendship and honesty.”

Rey narrowed her eyes at him. “If you’d rather I-”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he snapped, and then exhaled, running his hand through his hair. He glared at the floor. “I don’t want to be taken away from you again.”

Rey pressed another small kiss to his mouth. “You won’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the secret relationship begins! ;)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have new AU story with our favorite couple, so keep your eyes out for it! ("Do You Want to Play Pilot?")

 

_“You’ve changed.”_

_“So has he.”_

_“Rey, I need to know, not for the Resistance, but for my own selfish reasons…do you truly think my son can be redeemed?”_

_“I wouldn’t have gone back for him if I didn’t think that.”_

\---

 

When they were back on base, they naturally had to be careful.

Fleeting touches here and there, whispers through the bond, stolen kisses in the corners of training rooms.

But it wasn’t easy.

Ben wasn’t often allowed to roam headquarters, and when he was, he almost always had a couple of guards by his side. Rey frequented his shabby room, but it was becoming more and more difficult to think of a good excuse to visit him.

And then of course, there was the guilt that came with the secrecy of it all. Every time Finn asked her to hang out when she had already promised Ben she would visit. Every time Leia questioned her Force connection with Ben. Every time Poe reminded her of their upcoming meeting with the council. Guilt followed her everywhere.

It was selfish, she knew, to take this for herself, to believe she was deserving of having something so private and wonderful. But Rey had spent all of her time off Jakku fighting for a cause that was not her own; was it really so terrible to have this one thing?

She told herself no, but maybe that was because Ben was currently sucking on her neck.

“We should go,” she protested weakly, her hands threading in his hair as he licked down her collarbone. “The council-”

“The council can eat bantha fodder,” he grumbled, his hand snaking under her shirt to touch the skin of her stomach. His fingers skidded along her bands, playing with the edges.

“You can remove them if you want,” Rey said, her eyes on the ceiling.

He kissed her shoulder. “Can I?”

“Are you hard of hearing?” Her cheeks were red now, but his head was ducked so he couldn’t see. The tips of his fingers wriggled under her bands, separating the clothing from her skin.

“You don’t know how often I’ve thought about you in that dress,” he murmured, finally squeezing her breast, running his thumb over the peak.

Rey cleared her throat. “I’m guessing often?”

“Mm.” He was kissing her neck again, the soft suction of his mouth making pleasant, little noises. As he ran over her nipple once more, she closed her eyes, releasing a quiet moan.

Then they heard footsteps, and on instinct they rolled away from each other, having become practiced with such hasty retreats. Rey adjusted her tunic as she stood, while Ben remained seated on his bunk.

A guard entered, looking back and forth between the two. “The council has summoned you,” he told them, jerking his head back towards the doorway. “Follow me.”

When they entered the briefing room, Finn and Poe were already inside, standing before the council. Rey strode up to Finn’s right side, Ben coming to stand beside her. She kept her eyes on the council, who was always the epitome of seriousness.

“This isn’t working,” the Twi’lek councilwoman said, her hands folded in front of her. “The council has elected to take all of you off this assignment. You’ll be reassigned to separate precincts.”

“You’re joking, right?” Poe said, approaching the council members. “You assigned us this mission. Now you’re not even going to stand with your decision long enough to see it through?”

“Need I remind you it’s been two weeks, General, and your team has yet to round up a single First Order sympathizer.”

“But we saved that Force sensitive child,” Finn pointed out. “Doesn’t that count for something?”

“That wasn’t the assignment.” The Twi’lek woman narrowed her eyes, and Rey watched as they darted over to survey Ben. “It’s become clear to us that perhaps this dynamic was doomed from the start. You’ll still be required to attend social events as a unit, but this assignment has been terminated.”

“What does that mean for Ben?” Rey asked, frowning. She didn’t like where this was going.

“The intent of Ben Solo’s life sentence to the New Republic was to utilize him as a tool to capture his former cohorts,” the woman said. “While there cannot be a retrial, his purpose to us is no longer valid. Exile, perhaps, is the best alternative.”

Rey’s heart dropped in her chest. No. They couldn’t take him away from her. Not after everything. She dug her fingernails into her palms, watching as Ben kept his eyes on the floor, his expression blank, but his posture defeated.

“That’s not necessary,” Poe said, and both Rey and Ben looked up in surprise. “I think the council’s forgetting that our little trip to Tatooine, on _their_ orders, was not only a huge waste of time, but it nearly killed us all.”

“Your source was faulty,” Finn added, nodding intently.

Poe crossed his arms. “Give us another two weeks, and this time, I’ll be the one calling the shots. You’ll get your results. You have nothing to lose, realistically.” He gestured toward the council. “What do you say?”

The Twi’lek woman turned to her colleagues, and they murmured to each other for several seconds. Rey felt Finn’s hand slide into her own, giving it a squeeze. She squeezed back, letting him know with her eyes how thankful she was to them for their support.

“Two weeks,” the Twi’lek agreed finally, her eyes flickering over to Ben once more. “You’ve been spared by your team, Ben Solo.”  Ben’s eyes rose to meet hers. “Don’t take this last chance for granted,” she advised.

 

\---

 

That night Rey snuck into Ben’s room during the ten-minute period in between guard shifts. She had visited often enough that she knew every eight hours there would be a brief period where no one stood in front of his door at all, so she would have to wait and sneak out again in the morning, to avoid being caught. 

When the door shut behind her, Rey met his eyes. He stood across the room from her, his back pressed against the opposite wall.

“What motive did they have to do that?” he asked, his voice sounding odd. He wasn’t talking about the council.

Rey shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe they’re starting to sense the change in you.” When Ben scoffed, Rey came forward. “Is that so hard to believe? You _have_ changed. You’re becoming the person you’re meant to be.”

“You sound like Skywalker,” Ben replied with distaste.

“Stop avoiding the reality, Ben. You’re living in it.”

“This can hardly qualify as living,” he fired back, gesturing around the room, which was really still just a cell. He moved his hands to cup her upper arms. “Do you know what I would do with my life now, if given the choice?” he asked, his voice becoming gentler. “I’d show you the galaxy. Not just the putrid bits like Tatooine and Jakku. I’d take you to Naboo, or to the outer rim, where no one can pester us.” His thumbs skidded over the sides of her shoulders. “Could you ever want that?”

For some stupid, embarrassing reason, Rey felt like crying, but she blinked away any sort of moisture before it could properly form. “More than you know.”

He cupped her face and kissed her, taking her bottom lip into his mouth and sucking gently. Rey wound her arms around his waist, moving her body so it was pressed against his. She felt the hard plain of his chest on hers, felt his erection press against her hip.

“Will you stay this time?” he murmured against her mouth.

“Of course,” she whispered back, thankful she had slipped inside his room when she did.

He kept his lips attached to hers as he bent over, running his large hands down her spine, over her rear, and to the backs of her thighs. He scooped her up, placing each leg around him as he deposited her on his bunk before climbing over her.

Rey’s hands reached up to undo some of his buttons, revealing the white of his chest. He curled his fingers around the neckline of her tunic and tugged it off her shoulder. He stared at her skin for a moment, and then he buried his face in the crook, kissing hungrily.

“Wha… _oh,_ what is it?” she breathed.

He lifted his head momentarily. “I’ve left some marks.”

She stared at him blankly. “Marks?”

“Bites. Bruises. You should cover them, if you don’t want your friends to question them.”

It bothered her that he still said ‘friends’ in that loathsome way. Had they not just stuck their necks out for him?

“Don’t leave any more,” she told him crossly. “And I don’t want to hear you talk about them that way. They’ve already done so much for you.”

Ben opened his mouth like he was about to argue, but then he relented. “Alright.”

“Good.” She brought her hand up to the back of his neck and tugged his face down to hers again.

As their kissing became more heated, Ben’s hand slunk up the inside of her shirt, and this time she lifted her torso so he could wriggle his fingers under her bands with ease. Her skin tingled as he touched her, and she felt a sharp ache between her legs as he growled.

“I want to see you,” he said, beginning to raise her tunic.

Rey felt a pitch of abrupt nervousness. “Ah, is that the best idea? In such stark lighting?”

His mouth curved around the corners. “Are you scared of me?”

“No!” she said indignantly. “You don’t frighten me.”

“I don’t?”

“Even when you did, I bested you,” she reminded him, running a finger along his scar.

Ben sat up, suddenly seeming unsure. “Rey-”

“Just turn off the lights, will you?” She bit her lip.

He paused, but then nodded, reaching for the switch. When they were submerged in darkness she felt his hands lifting her tunic, and she straightened her arms, allowing the fabric to travel over her body. When she heard it topple to the floor, the chilly air pebbled her skin, and she gasped when his warm, wet lips made contact with her stomach. He kissed up her side, pausing to circle his tongue over her nipple. Rey’s breathing became heavy, and she wove her fingers into his hair again.

He kissed her mouth again, a bit forcefully, his tongue probing deep into her mouth as his body pushed against hers. His erection rubbed almost painfully against her core and she shuddered.

“What do you want?” he gasped, rubbing his hips with hers. “What do you want from me?”

She was confused by the question. “I…what do you mean?”

“Do you want me to make you come?”

Rey gaped at his bluntness, but then she remembered it was dark and he most likely could not see her expression. His hands pinned her wrists over her head, as he sucked on her earlobe.

“Tell me what you want,” he half-groaned as he ground himself into her once more.

And then everything just became overwhelming.

“I-I don’t know,” she told him honestly, for how could she know? She wasn’t even sure what she liked.

Ben stiffened abruptly, as he must have finally felt her hesitance through their connection. He released her wrists and sat up, leaning against the wall.

“I’m sorry,” Rey said quietly.

“Don’t apologize.” His voice sounded odd, like it was just occurring to him how young she was, how green and inexperienced she was when it came to something like this.

She felt like she should say more, but she couldn’t find the words. Thankfully, she didn’t need to, for in the next moment he was sprawling out beside her, tugging her into his arms and holding her like he wasn’t planning on letting go anytime soon.

 

\---

 

Rey helped Finn carry some extra supplies onto the _Falcon_ as the team prepared for their next destination: Bespin.

“Poe says its moons are the perfect hiding spot for anyone wanting to escape galactic turmoil,” Finn explained, as they placed another load of portions onto the craft. “Who knows, maybe some of the First Order will be there.”

“I hope so. We desperately need a lead,” Rey responded, dusting off her hands.

Finn watched her. “Would you really have been upset if he was exiled?”

Rey coughed, subconsciously adjusting her tunic around the neck to cover her love bites. “It just seems like a waste, after everything.” She paused. “Also the bond connects us far less when we are together. It’s not as disrupting.” This actually wasn’t a lie, but she decided to leave out the fact that these days she didn’t mind such disruptions.

Finn nodded, apparently satisfied with her answer.

Chewie roared behind them as he reentered the vessel followed by BB-8 and Poe. The pilot wore his signature crooked grin on his face, and Rey realized how excited he was to depart, now that he was in complete control.

Poe laughed. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite crew,” he said coming forward to peck Rey on the cheek and clap Finn on the shoulder. He peeked around them. “Where’s Solo?”

“Here,” Ben grunted, as he boarded the craft.

Rey’s eyes went down as he rubbed his wrists. “They’re still restraining you?” she questioned, her forehead crinkling.

Ben merely shrugged.

“Seems like overkill at this point,” Poe said offhandedly, although he didn’t make an offer to speak to the council about it this time. Rey supposed his generosity with Ben could only extend so far.

“Have you ever been to Bespin?” Finn asked Poe, as everyone began to settle in for take off.

Rey took her seat by the side, as she normally did, watching as Ben moved to his usual back corner. She hesitated, before going over to sit next to him. He raised an eyebrow at her but didn’t say anything, for which she was grateful. She didn’t trust herself not to blush if he began teasing.

If Finn and Poe noticed her change of seating, it didn’t disrupt their conversation.

“As much as I can be _on_ it,” Poe answered Finn’s inquiry. “Bespin’s a gas planet, so the moons are our best bet.” He swiveled in his chair. “Although we might want to check a few habitations in its atmosphere.”

BB-8 made a few beeps.

“Ah, that’s an excellent point, my friend. Chewie you might have to just drop us off this time. There aren’t exactly many docking ports.”

Chewie roared in agreement.

As the _Falcon_ took off, Rey rested her elbows on her knees. She turned her chin to Ben. “What about you? Have you ever been to Bespin?”

“A couple of times as a child, when I was forced to tag along for political engagements.”

“What’s it like?”

“If your patience can withstand a couple of minutes, you’ll find out for yourself.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “Why do I even try speaking to you?”

She had meant it as a joke, but Ben sobered, his eyebrows furrowing. “I don’t know,” he said quietly.

Rey raised her hand as if to rest it on his shoulder, but thought better of it when she saw Chewie watching them. She lowered her hand and gave the Wookiee a smile. He nodded back, but scratched his head, a curious expression on his face.

Rey decided it was best to keep quiet for the remainder of the journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New theory:
> 
> Hux will find out about Kylo truly killing Snoke, and turn against him. The Knights of Ren bring news back of Palpatine, and everyone is against Kylo and his few remaining supporters as he flees to Rey and the Resistance. A temporary alliance is formed and the rest is history. 
> 
> I would love if this happens, not sure if it will though, obviously.


	8. Chapter 8

            Rey’s palms were plastered to one of the windows of the _Falcon_ , her eyes as wide as saucers as she peered out into the golden-clouded sky.

She had _never_ been anywhere like Bespin.

On Jakku there had been this old babbling fool by the name of Tamik, who would prattle on and on about this place called Heaven. He talked about a palace among the clouds guarded by luxurious golden gates. No one had ever taken him seriously, and Rey had whacked him once when he had grabbed her leg.

Bespin looked like it was the closest thing to this ‘Heaven’ that there would ever be.

The sun filtered in through the clouds as the ship landed on one of the many habitations in its atmosphere. While the original plan was to start the search on its moons, Poe figured they could rent a cloud car to navigate the air space during their stay. Once Chewie had said his farewell to the group, he took off into the sky with the promise to return the next day.

Poe meandered up to the desk and dropped some credits in front of the man behind the counter. “One room and your shittiest cloud car please.”

Ben wisely made sure to stay far away from the transaction, for Rey doubted anyone would wish to do business with them if they recognized the former Supreme Leader of the First Order.

After Poe picked up the keys to their cloud car, the team moved into their temporary room, a modest space with a couple of ‘freshers and a balcony, which apparently was signature of all habitations on Bespin.

Finn immediately collapsed onto one of the beds, and within moments he was snoring. Poe and Rey chuckled at their friend while Ben looked on unamused, before stepping out onto the balcony.

Poe sniffed his armpit, his nose crinkling. “Think I’m going to hit the ‘fresher.” He nodded out onto the balcony. “I’d say keep an eye on him, but I know you’ve got it covered already.” It was a good thing he turned then, for Rey couldn’t help the slight blush that sprang to her cheeks.

She waited until she heard the sounds of the ‘fresher running before she walked out onto the balcony. Ben’s forearms lay against the railing as he gazed out into the cloud filled sky, the tips of his hair touched with gold. Rey noticed a small knot by his ear and she automatically reached out to gently tug it free. Ben surveyed her curiously, and she suddenly felt self conscious, so she mirrored his position.

“It’s really beautiful,” she mused, leaning forward to see if she could detect the landscape below. She couldn’t.

“If you look any farther you’ll fall, and then I’ll have to try and explain to Dameron that I didn’t kill you.”

“Hm. It certainly wouldn’t look good,” Rey replied, but she straightened. “Do you think we’ll find anything here?”

Ben shrugged.

“You could be a bit more invested, seeing as it’s either this or exile,” Rey pointed out, and then paused. “Unless…you would prefer that.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” he admitted, “if you came with me.”

Rey stared down at her hands and smiled softly. “You know that wouldn’t be allowed.”

“Just get Dameron to sweet talk the council. While it’s sickening to watch, it’s at least effective.”

“That’s not the point. I shouldn’t be the only thing that makes you happy,” Rey argued. “You should want a better life for yourself. You should want to be redeemed.”

“I never said you made me happy,” he responded, but he moved one arm to trap her in between him and the railing. She shifted until her front was pressed against him.

“Ben…” Rey said in warning, her eyes shifting towards the door.

“But you do,” he said, as if she hadn’t spoken. “Make me happy,” he clarified.

“If this is you happy, then that’s really quite depressing.”

His mouth quirked up at that, and then he angled his head to capture her lips. His mouth was warm from the sun, and Rey sighed against him, finding she was becoming more and more confident with the concept of kissing.

She heard a beep from the doorway, and then she froze, instinctively putting her hands on Ben’s chest to stop him. Ben angled his head towards the doorway, and then stepped away from her to reveal BB-8. The droid emitted a beep that was downright shrill, and Rey was immediately at his side, crouching with a frantic expression.

“BB-8! Please, I…I can explain. Really I can,” she said, her voice a desperate whisper.

The BB unit released a serious of clicks and beeps that made Rey bite her lip, and peek out nervously behind him into the room.

“I know! I know. I’ll tell him eventually, alright? Him and Finn both. I just need to find the right time.”

Ben moved to stand beside her, but BB-8 rolled forward aggressively, and he actually took a step back in surprise.

“This is absurd,” Ben whispered in outrage to Rey.   
Rey sighed. “Don’t mind him,” she told the droid, ignoring Ben’s indignant snort. “I know it isn’t right, sneaking around like this. I just…I haven’t found a way to make them understand yet. I will tell them. I _promise._ If I could just have a few more weeks-”

BB-8 clicked firmly.

Rey clutched the back of her head and sighed again. “Alright. A week then.”

BB-8 beeped in satisfaction and then rolled back into the room. Rey stood slowly, turning to face Ben with crossed arms.

Ben curled his lip. “I can’t believe you just negotiated with a droid.”

“What would you rather I had done? Blast him?”

“Preferably.”

Rey rolled her eyes, and then pointed a finger at him. “No more of this. Not unless we are entirely alone.”

Ben glared at her, but then huffed in exasperation, and she knew she had won.

 

\---

 

The cloud car…was a little cramped.

It was expected, given Poe _did_ ask for the shittiest one. It had two compartments connected with a metal bridge, perfect for BB-8. Poe and Finn took the left compartment while Rey and Ben squeezed into the right. Poe manned the main controls, but Rey and Ben snapped over the panel on their side for a few minutes before Rey won. Smirking in victory, she shouldered her much larger compartment buddy out of the way, so she could wrap her hands around the controls.

They patrolled the atmosphere of Bespin for a couple of hours before settling on one of its moons to continue their search on foot. When they were on solid ground again, Rey and Ben automatically put up their hoods.

“Now what?” Ben spoke for the first time since getting into the car. “Wander aimlessly and hope something falls into our lap?”

“I’m working on it, don’t get your little, Dark sider thong in a twist,” Poe brushed him off.

Rey gripped Ben’s shoulder, making sure to dig in with her nails when he took a step towards Poe.

“Anyone thirsty?” Finn asked, defusing some of the tension as he gestured to what appeared to be some sort of bar a couple hundred feet behind them.

Poe shrugged. “Why not? Could be a good place to check.”

The foursome, plus BB-8, entered the crowded establishment a few minutes later. Rey made sure to tuck her saber into her tunic just in case. One could never tell who was watching.

Poe came up to the bar. “I’ll get four sex on the outer rims and one cup of finishing oil for this little guy.” He patted BB-8 on the head.

Rey pushed past a seedy looking slug creature and popped her head next to Poe. “Is this your plan? Drinking on the job?”

Poe gave her a dazzling smile. “Trust me. You don’t catch flies with vinegar, Rey.”

She gave him a skeptical look, but sat down beside him, Finn and Ben eventually coming to join her. They were given their drinks and Poe gave the bartender some credits.

“You work here often?” Poe asked, taking a sip of his drink.

The bartender looked him up and down, before combing a finger through her vibrantly pink hair. “It pays the bills.”

“If you ask me it’s a galactic crime for someone as beautiful as you to be working in a place like this,” Poe said, the corner of his mouth quirking up.

Ben moved his mouth to Rey’s ear. “This is sickening. Did we really come all this way just for Dameron to shamelessly throw himself at foreign women?”

“Give him a chance,” Finn whispered to him, apparently overhearing his comment.

“I think he might be on to something.”

So he was.

After a few more lines of obvious flirting, Poe pointed out a cluster of men in the far corner of the establishment, asking who they were in a carefully crafted manner.

The bartender shrugged, disinterested. “They’re smugglers. Get people in and out. Make people disappear who want to disappear.” She smiled. “You wanna disappear or something, hun?”

“If it meant leaving you? Never,” Poe said with a wink.

“I just vomited a bit,” Ben muttered.

“Don’t be dramatic,” Rey whispered back.

“Tell you what, I gotta get my friends home here, but how ‘bout I give you my com signal in case you ever get lonely,” Poe continued.

The woman batted her eyes. “I’d like that,” she said, handing him a napkin and writing utensil.

After Poe wrote something down on the napkin, he slid the paper to her and the group finally rose to leave, Ben looking the most grateful of all.

“Not so fast,” Poe muttered to them. He nodded to the group of men in the corner. “We’re going to introduce ourselves.”

The team stood, all of their drinks untouched save for Poe’s and BB-8’s. As they crossed the bar, Rey saw Finn lean over to Poe and mumble something along the lines of “Did you actually give her your com signal?” He looked bothered.

Poe chuckled and shook his head, leaning back to mutter something to Finn as they walked, and Rey decided this really wasn’t any of her business. She fell back beside Ben, ignoring the way BB-8 very intentionally rolled between them.

Poe held up a hand to them before they go too close. “You two hang back.”

Rey nodded, knowing this was probably for the best. She and Ben watched as Poe, Finn and BB-8 moved over to the group of strangers, and Poe began conversing with them.

“My being here is more a formality at this point,” Ben grumbled.

“Is that your way of saying you want to be more involved?” Rey questioned, smiling.

He huffed. “Well, if I’m already forced to be here…”

Rey nudged him with her elbow at the same moment her friends returned. “Well?” she asked them.

“We’ve got a lead,” Poe answered, grinning. “Gave us a coordinate known for fleeing war criminals.”

“How did you manage that?” Ben asked skeptically.

Poe scoffed. “With my unattainable charm,” he said at the same time Finn said, “He gave them the rest of his credits.” Finn cringed as he looked at Poe, and Ben snorted.

“Yeah, well, needless to say we’re on a budget,” Poe shrugged. “But it doesn’t matter. We won’t be here for much longer. Come on.”

They landed their cloud car on one of the outermost moons of Bespin. When Rey dismounted, the earth underneath her was a bright orange, and a thin cloud of dust clung to her uniform. As the rest of her companions removed themselves from the craft, she surveyed their surroundings.

There was one stone pathway that rose above the messy orange earth, branching out to connect to circle buildings constructed of strange, silver metal. They were lovely, but rather isolating, and Rey barely saw anyone around. As her friends came up beside her, she noticed how Poe’s hand gripped the handle of his blaster.

“That one,” he said, pointing several buildings down. “The one with the crooked light fixture.” He angled his head towards Finn and Ben. “I’ll need you two to point out any familiar faces you see.”

“I’ll do my best,” Finn said nervously, while Ben remained silent.

The group slunk along behind the habitations, running and ducking from corner to corner. Rey could tell Ben felt ridiculous based on the blatant scowl on his face, but that didn’t stop him from resting a hand on her lower back when the team knelt behind the house in question. She knew he was probably only doing it to make a point, that he didn’t _really_ care if it bothered Finn and Poe, but the contact was comforting anyway. Besides, her other friends were too absorbed in the task at hand to notice.

Poe withdrew his blaster from his belt, and Finn and Ben did the same. Rey removed her saber, her fingers ready to ignite it at a moment’s notice.

“Solo,” Poe said, and Rey watched as Ben stiffened from his direct address. “On my command I want you and Rey to blast open that back door. Got it?” Ben glared at Poe, but the pilot wasn’t letting him off easy. “Can I get a verbal confirmation?”

“Poe, give it a rest,” Finn spoke, adjusting the grip on his blaster.

Poe frowned, but took the advice. He crouched by the doorway, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “On my count.”

Rey and Ben each lifted a hand.

“One.”

Rey took a deep breath.

“Two.”

She focused her mind.

“Three!”

Her fingers flexed the same instant as Ben’s, and the door crashed off its hinges and landed into the room. There was a cry of alarm inside, and Poe gestured wildly. “Let’s move!”

Rey surged into the habitation, igniting her saber and instinctually deflecting a laser blast that would have met Finn’s torso. The group fanned out, finding different cover from their assailants. There were six of them, certainly not enough to completely overpower their squad, but Rey knew they would have to be cautious if they were going to walk away with any detainees.

“They’re definitely First Order,” Finn yelled over the fire. “Former Stormtroopers, in the squadron adjacent to mine!”

“Aim to detain, not kill!” Poe yelled back, his eyes flickering over to Ben.

BB-8 rolled forward, apparently taking matters into his own circuits. A tiny blaster protruded from the side of his head and he fired, hitting one of the attackers in the leg. The man collapsed with a grunt.

Rey ran out then, twirling her saber blade to deflect more laser fire. Ben rose, firing a few shots of his blaster and then whipping out a hand to throw another assailant back. Rey shifted her weight, using the Force to tug the remaining blasters from their opponent’s hands. Some of them fell to their knees, while the rest lifted their hands in surrender.

“Stand down,” Poe ordered, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead. He glanced down at BB-8 who clicked contently next to him. “You think you’re calling the shots now?”

BB-8 beeped in satisfaction, retracting his head blaster.

Finn put his hands on his hips, surveying their defeated opponents, his shoulders heaving. “Well, at least the council will be happy.”

“Fuck the council,” Ben panted, and Rey shook her head.

Poe grinned. “Now _that’s_ something we can finally agree on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love how protective BB-8 is. He’s a boss.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going to be churning out a bunch of one and two shots like nobodies business, all Reylo, from both modern au and canon compliant universes. They will all be fun, touching and steamy! Keep your eyes out for some of these stories in the next few weeks! 
> 
> Also I will be out of town this weekend, so here is a couple of chapters!

_“The council calls Rey to the stand.”_

_“Rey, are you prepared to testify on behalf of former Supreme Leader Kylo Ren?”_

_“Yes.”_

\---

 

“I don’t understand why we have to go to another gala. Wasn’t _one_ enough?” Rey complained as she rocked back and forth in her seat.

“The gala on Coruscant was meant to celebrate the end of the war. This one, on Naboo, will be to promote intergalactic unity,” Leia explained.

“It’s still a gala,” Ben grumbled.

Poe and Finn seemed equally as perturbed.

Leia astutely ignored him. “All of you may have been able to get away with sitting and observing on Coruscant, but you will need to actively interact with nobles and senators this time.” She leaned, pressing her hands onto the table to fix her gaze on each of them. “The council was impressed with your most recent success, but capturing sympathizers is only half the battle,” she continued. “You need to promote yourselves as a cohesive unit.”

“Solo’s still alive, so I would consider that proof enough,” Poe pointed out, and Finn nodded.

Leia gave him an unamused look. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you during this event. _All_ of you,” she emphasized, sweeping her eyes around the room and finally landing on her son.

Ben scowled.

It was then that Lieutenant Connix poked her head into the briefing room. “General, your assistance is needed.”

“Right this instant?” Leia asked, clearly vexed.

“Unfortunately.”

Leia sighed, glancing at the group in front of her. “Just behave yourselves,” she said tiredly, making her exit.

Rey slumped onto the table, placing her head in her hands. “These galas make me absolutely knackered.”

“At least you’ve already got your dress tailored. They need to make alterations on my suit. _Again,”_ Finn complained. “All they have me do is stand there and get poked with a needle!”

“I heard some of the stylists talking about some nice braiding techniques,” Poe mentioned casually, his eyes gliding to Ben. “And I don’t think they were for Rey.”

Ben stared at him blankly. “They wouldn’t dare.”

Both Finn and Poe burst out laughing at this, and Rey sent Ben a smile. Ever since they had brought in the former Stormtroopers a few days ago, the group’s interactions had been, dare she say it, almost…comfortable.

Something nudged her foot, and she glanced down to find BB-8. He let out a warning click when Poe and Finn were absorbed in their own conversation. Rey gave the droid a pointed look.

She had to give him one thing; he was persistent.

She wanted to tell Finn and Poe, she really did. But the group was just finally starting to act like an actual team. How could she risk ruining that by revealing the true nature of her relationship with Ben?

Even so, she had made a promise to BB-8, and her time was running out.

 

\---

 

Rey threw the clip-on earrings against her dresser. She had given it her best effort, but she hated the way the heavy metal tugged at her earlobes, and she couldn’t fathom why anyone would want their ears to droop.

She stood, examining this new dress. The gala on Naboo was still a few hours away, but she had wanted to get used to walking in this new attire, so she wouldn’t embarrass herself.

The dress, thank Stars, was simpler than the first one. It was pool blue, a similar color to the robes she had worn on Ahch-To, all those months ago. There was no shiny rope or accessories of any kind, but it did cling to her form in an admittedly pleasing manner. It also lacked sleeves of any kind, a first for her, and she admired the freeing ability of her arms.

Rey picked up the skirts of her dress and snuck through the corridors of this colossal residence. When they had arrived on Naboo that morning she had been ushered into another briefing room, so she hadn’t really gotten the chance to explore.

What she found was positively breathtaking.

Out of the few places Rey had visited, this was by far the most beautiful. She could see why Ben had wanted to eventually take her here. The sky was warm and the land was dotted with lovely vines, and water, and lush greenery, mixed with the artisan stone buildings, which seemed to be the common theme.

And that was just the view from the balcony.

Rey trekked down the hallway, intent on going outside. She crossed into a courtyard, realizing quickly that she probably shouldn’t be here without permission; she didn’t want to violate any foreign customs.

She made to turn around and head back inside when a structure in the center caught her eye.

It was a statue of a woman. A luxurious fountain was erected all around her, but Rey was more focused on the carvings of the statue. She looked like some sort of goddess, and Rey slowly walked up to the structure, completely mesmerized.

“Her name was Padmé Amidala. She used to be queen. Then senator.”

Startled, Rey turned to find Ben, still in his regular uniform. He came to stand beside her, his shoulder brushing hers.

“She’s very beautiful,” Rey commented, her eyes going back to the statue’s face.

Ben nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, I imagine she was.” He paused, as if debating whether or not to say something. “She was my grandmother.”

Rey’s jaw dropped. “You mean-”

“Surely I don’t have to tell you the tale of Anakin Skywalker,” Ben said, his lips thinning in tension.

Rey shook her head. Luke had already filled her in on some of the details. As much as he thought was appropriate anyway. She blinked as she studied the statue. Yes, now that she really looked, the woman did bear a resemblance to Leia. She had the same strong chin and sharp eyes.

“You never met her then,” she inferred the obvious.

“No. Neither did Leia.”

“Nor Luke.”

“I’d rather you not bring him up,” Ben said, his jaw clenching.

Rey narrowed her eyes. “Why not? Not talking about him won’t make him disappear. He’s all around us in the Force-”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Ben snapped, and then sighed in aggravation. “Sorry.”

She didn’t accept his apology, mostly because she didn’t want him to get away from this. “You’re in your life sentence, Ben. There isn’t anything to run from anymore.”

She stared hard at him, and he glared back. She held his gaze, refusing to be the one to break it. Finally, he gave up, and swiveled back to the statue. Rey resigned to continue the conversation later, in a place that wasn’t so open.

It was quiet as they watched the fountain water spew out of the pipes by Padmé’s feet, creating millions of tiny splashes.

“What are you doing here?” Rey asked, as a thought occurred to her. “Why isn’t anyone with you?”

“I’m restricted to this floor,” Ben admitted. “Dameron’s mighty influence only extends so far.” He angled his head, his eyes fully sweeping over her. “You look beautiful by the way. I’ve never seen your hair down like this.”

Rey reddened, subconsciously brushing her fingers through her locks. She didn’t think there was much of a point to put it up when the stylists would only get their hands in it a few hours later.

“Thank you.”

Ben appeared like he wanted to kiss her, and Rey was so flustered by his compliment and the sudden gentleness in his eyes that she probably would have let him, despite the exposed location. She needed to maintain better control around him.

“I should go,” she said, brushing at her skirts. “It’s already getting dark and-”

“Yes. I understand,” Ben nodded. He turned to go, but then paused. “Keep your chamber door unlocked.”

Rey stared at him. “I thought you were restricted to this floor.”

“Just keep it unlocked.” And then he was gone.

She did as she was told as soon as the stylists had finished her hair and make up. She waited until they were gone before she padded at her eyes and wiped the clay off her lips with the back of her hand. She sat down in a leather lounge chair, bouncing her legs. Her heart was already pounding, and she wasn’t sure if it had to do with the gala or the fact that she could feel Ben’s Force signature approaching.

Who was she kidding; it was probably both.

He came around the corner, his hair messy and his hairline red as if he had just tugged out some Nabooian hairstyle. Rey could sympathize. Her own hair was braided and then twisted into her normal three buns. Her stylist had insisted the do was very ‘in,’ but Rey couldn’t understand the point of braiding her hair if she was just going to put it up anyway.

She surveyed Ben, her eyes running down his dark red attire. Rey glanced at her own dress again, noting the contrast. She wondered it if was intentional.

“I can’t stay long,” Ben said, coming forward. “Obviously.”

“You shouldn’t be here at all,” Rey pointed out, her eyes darting to the doorway nervously.

“Do you want me to go?”

“You know I don’t,” she grumbled. She brushed her hands down the front of her dress.

“I just wanted to have one moment alone with you before we’re subjected to hours of small talk and groveling.”

Rey’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh, do you think it will really be _hours_?”

Ben smirked, and then he cupped her shoulders and pressed his lips to hers. His hands spread across her upper back, pulling her close. Rey sunk into him at once; it had been days since they had had any sort of privacy.

When his lips began to trail to her neck, she made a noise of protest and pushed him off. “Are you mad? I can’t afford to have you leaving any marks!”

“Right,” Ben said, his hand brushing to lightly cup the front of her breast.

She gave him an unamused look before wrapping her arms around his shoulders and tugging him to her mouth again. Their tongues slid against each other as Ben’s hands roamed freely. The backs of her thighs hit her bed, and she paused to inch herself down before she pulled him over her.

“What if we just didn’t go?” he murmured, bunching her dress up around her knees.

“We have to,” she sighed, as he settled between her legs, his hand brushing up her inner thigh. She raised her head. “What are you doing?”

“Touching you.”

His fingers came to the frilly underwear, ‘panties,’ her stylist had called them, which she had been forced to wear. He moved his thumb over her, the rough pad touching the most sensitive place between her legs.

Rey made a small noise, and she bit her lip, wondering if she should double down on her protests to leave. They really needed to get going…

He was putting more pressure on her now, kissing her jaw as he began to rub in firm circles. His fingers moved down over the material, and Rey knew he could feel how embarrassingly wet she was.

There was a small noise down the hallway, and that was enough to break Rey from her trance. She bolted upright, throwing down her dress as she heard approaching footsteps.

“Miss Rey?” The voice was becoming closer.

She began pushing Ben toward the ground.

“What are you doing?” he hissed.

“Get under the bed,” she whispered back harshly.

Ben scoffed. “This is ridiculous.”

“ _You’re_ ridiculous,” she snapped back, because she couldn’t think of anything better to say. Thankfully, Ben took the hint and he disappeared under her bed skirts just as the assistant arrived.

“Your presence is requested in the main hall,” the young woman said, bowing a bit, to Rey’s disturbance. “I’ll show you the way.”

“T-thank you,” Rey said, shooting one look at the bed before following the woman out. Ben would just have to join her later.

She found Leia outside the entrance hall, and she was _not_ happy.

“Where have you been?” She demanded. “The council and about a hundred others are in there waiting for your arrival.”

“I’m sorry,” Rey said flustered, running over her hair. “I, well, I was, er-”

“I found her by grandmother’s fountain,” Ben said, coming up from behind her. Rey was actually grateful for his sudden appearance. At least it wasn’t technically a lie. He _had_ found her out there.

Rey’s heart hammered in her chest as Leia’s eyes narrowed, darting back and forth between the two of them. Finally, she sighed, either not realizing the fib or not caring enough about the circumstances.

“Follow me,” she said testily. “We’re already late.”

Coruscant had nothing on Naboo in Rey’s opinion. Everywhere she went on this planet, there was a sort of natural loveliness incorporated into the design and architecture. Ivy plants wove around tanned, marble columns. Strange orbs filled with candlelight hung from notches in the ceiling. Unlike the massive dining table in the galaxy’s capital, this dining hall was dotted with smaller circular tables, and there were no chairs. The intent was probably so guests could walk from table to table, enjoying polite interaction. Her stomach twisted unpleasantly at that.

Leia was greeted by a group of nobles whom Rey had never seen before. They seemed like they knew _her_ though, which she supposed made sense. As Leia was swept away in conversation, Rey’s eyes found Poe and Finn by a table in the far corner.

Her entire body stiffened as Ben’s hand came to rest on her lower back.

“What are you doing?” she rasped, her eyes darting nervously around the room.

He regarded her calmly. “Perhaps you’ve already forgotten, but the purpose of this gala is to promote intergalactic unity. If it doesn’t trouble you, maybe you should act like being by my side doesn’t repulse you.”

Rey’s eyes dropped to the floor as she blushed fiercely, and she could see his smug expression out of the corner of her eye. He knew very well his presence did not repulse her in the slightest.

But he was right. They would need to put forth the image of solidarity, and so she leaned into his touch as they walked. It was effective. Already eyes upon eyes were on them, nodding and whispering.

When they came to Poe and Finn’s table, it didn’t escape Rey that there were already several drinks prepared. Some of the glasses were empty, but they weren’t all Poe’s doing. She blinked at Finn in surprise.

Finn shrugged, the olive green of his dress robes bobbing. “It helps with the nerves,” he admitted, and then frowned when his eyes trailed to Ben’s hand on her back.

Ben must have gotten the message, and while normally Rey suspected he would have kept touching her just to make a statement, he let the appendage drop.

“You guys liking the party?” Poe asked, clearly already feeling the influence of his drinks.

“It’s adequate,” Ben offered, looking around at the scenery.

“Exactly how much ‘polite conversation’ must we engage in?” Rey questioned, already wringing her hands together.

Poe tapped his chin. “I think it was something like half the tables,” he shrugged. “Then again I could be making that up.”

“Half?” Rey said incredulously. There were at least three hundred tables in the hall. There was no way she could do this.

Without thinking, she automatically swiped the drink in Poe’s hand and drained the glass.

Poe nudged Finn. “She’s got the right idea.” His eyes dropped to the table, and he frowned, noticing most of the glasses were empty. “Hang on, I’ll get us some more.” As he made his way towards the bar, he bumped into a senator, and then bowed low, almost mockingly so, in apology.

Finn cringed. “I’ll just go see if he needs help…” And then he was gone.

Rey gripped the tablecloth, finding it hard to breath. Half the tables. _Half?!_

“Remember what I said,” Ben told her, his hand returning to her back. “Ask questions. Smile and nod. The rest will take care of itself.”

Rey closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath to collect herself. “Alright,” she replied, opening her eyes. “Alright.”

And then, to her utter shock, Ben took the lead by holding her forearm and walking them over to a group of nobles.


	10. Chapter 10

 

 

_“Just so we understand correctly, you’re saying Kylo Ren spared you?”_

_“He chose my life over Snoke’s.”_

_“So you were not the one to kill the Emperor?”_

_“No. That was Ben Solo.”_

\---

 

This really wasn’t so difficult, but then again, Rey thought she might be drunk.

She cut herself off after the third drink, knowing she had to maintain some form of poise so as not to embarrass Leia.

Ben stayed with her for most of the night; thank Stars, although she was sure it was just as much for his benefit as it was for hers. He didn’t exactly trust many other people here. Rey watched him indulge in a drink here and there, but he seemed just as uptight as he usually was. Did alcohol have no effect on him?

“So tell us more about this connection between the two of you,” one of the nobles was saying to her, while several others either eavesdropped or pretended they weren’t. “Ever since the trial, I’ve been _dying_ to know. It’s through some element in the _Force,_ yes?”

Rey knew Ben was desperately trying not to roll his eyes. She couldn’t really blame him. She would bet half the people here didn’t really know or care to understand the Force; it was more just a topic of conversation and gossip.

“Yes, it is,” Rey said, taking another sip of her drink despite herself. She placed it on the table, so she wouldn’t be tempted if she became too awkward. “It was rather unexpected.”

“And you swayed him to the Light, that way?” The noble picked at his blue chin.

“Uh…” Rey made eye contact with Ben, and then something in her clicked as she remembered his advice. “That is a dashing headdress. Might I inquire its origins?”

“Oh _this?”_ The noble ran his hands over his headgear in delight. “I have the most _fascinating_ anecdote for how I acquired this piece. It started when my personal designer from Coruscant relocated to Canto Bight…”

And so on, and so forth.

At one point in the night, Rey caught a glimpse of Poe. He was clearly sloshed but holding it together remarkably well as he chatted up some nobles next to Leia and Finn. Rey covered her smile as Leia scrutinized Poe’s drunkenness, but even the General could not shake the amusement from her eyes.

About an hour later, dozens of servers moved the tables into the back room, and upbeat woodwind music filled the air. Rey looked around wildly, wondering what was happening, when she felt Poe tugging at her hand.

“Time to promote some intergalactic unity,” he said gleefully, spinning her in a clumsy circle. Couples were pairing up around them, and she caught Finn grinning and trying not to laugh by a marble pillar. Rey craned her neck, searching for Ben in the crowd, but discovering it was nearly impossible with the pace of the dance.

Luckily, there didn’t seem to be much grace to this song, so Rey could fake it. She did her best to follow Poe’s lead as he spun her around, his hands on her waist. She felt lightheaded, and she wasn’t sure if it was from the drink or the dancing, but she surprised herself when a giggle escaped her. After a few minutes the music changed to something slower, with strings, and Poe made them come to a stop.

He bowed low before her, and she feigned a curtsy, her face pink from exhilaration. Then she was being firmly spun, and Ben was there, grasping her hand and sending Poe a sour look.

Poe feigned offence. “Oh sure, of _course_ you can cut in, Solo. Take her!”

Finn came up to Poe’s side, trying to suppress his laughter while also casting Rey a curious look. “Come on, let’s get you a glass of water.”

After her friends had left, Rey made eye contact with Leia across the room. She nodded encouragingly at her, a soft smile on her face. Rey assumed the traditional dancing stance with Ben, and they started to move. She became aware that perhaps more than a hundred eyes were on them, and her anxiety started to return. She stumbled, practically stepping on Ben’s toes. He shot her a look.

“I don’t think I can do this,” she whispered frantically, stumbling again.

“Step on my feet.”

“What?”

“Stand on my feet,” he clarified. “Your dress is long enough that no one will know.”

Rey discovered he was being sincere, so she did as she was told. She briefly wondered if her weight would hurt him, but he didn’t even flinch. Her dress twisted around them, practically covering both of their shoes as he moved.

Now that Rey didn’t have to focus on her feet, she noticed this wasn’t all around unpleasant. The music was peaceful, and Ben’s hands were warm against her waist and arm. He gazed at her in this quiet way that made her cheeks turn rosy.

“Stop staring at me like that,” she murmured.

“Why?”

“Someone might see.”

“Are you embarrassed of me?” he whispered, his voice teasing.

“Of course not,” she answered seriously, shifting closer to him.

“Then relax.”

So she did. As they danced, Rey almost forgot about the hundreds of eyes on her. She almost forgot about all of the expectations. For one startling moment, as she was looking at Ben and holding him close, she debated kissing him. It would be quite a way to announce their relationship, if one could even call it that. Rey resisted the urge though, knowing it was probably her excitement and a bit of the alcohol talking.

When the music ended, the hall burst into applause, and Rey became as red as a tomato. She discreetly stepped off Ben’s feet, and the two retired to the far end of the room as a more upbeat song began playing.

By now most everyone was drunk, or well on their way. Even Leia’s cheeks were tinged with pink, and her tongue was a little sharper as she laughed with some senators. The council members were the only ones who seemed like they still had a stick up their anuses. Rey scanned the room several times, her lips quirking when she noticed Finn and Poe were missing.

“What is it?” Ben inquired, noticing her expression.

Rey just shook her head, deciding to keep her suspicions to herself.

“Rey, Ben Solo.”

The couple turned to find the Twi’lek councilwoman dressed in an elegant purple gown and matching headband. She surveyed them with pursed lips, and Rey found she couldn’t decipher the woman’s expression.

“I take it you are enjoying yourselves.”

“The gala is lovely,” Rey answered for both of them, knowing Ben wouldn’t.

“Yes, it is,” she agreed. She folded her hands. “I’m glad to see you two working so well together.”

Rey didn’t know what else to say, so she just nodded.

“The council is pleased with your most recent success,” she went on, purposefully keeping her phrasing vague, as she most likely wasn’t supposed to mention the assignment in such a public setting. “We think the promotion part, however, needs more work.” She discreetly nodded to her left.

Rey followed the gesture, and for the first time that night, she recognized the variety of the gazes sent their way. While she had assumed most of the nobles were just engrossed with the two of them for pure gossip, she began to see now that many of them possessed wary and distrustful expressions, especially when taking in Ben.

“We would like to meet with you to discuss a solution,” the Twi’lek woman said. “Another time, of course.”

“Of course,” Rey echoed, not liking the calculative expression on the woman’s face. When she moved away again, Rey noted Ben’s bitter expression.

“I don’t trust her,” he said simply.

“Neither do I,” Rey admitted, wincing as she shuffled her feet. She might be getting a blister. “I think I’ve had enough of promoting intergalactic unity for the evening,” she added. “Is there any way we can retire, _Ben Solo_?”

He did well to hide his smirk, but he couldn’t fool her. “I’ll see what I can do.”

 

\---

 

Rey felt like a character in a romance holo she had seen once. Her heart was racing as she ran through the velvet-carpeted corridor, Ben’s hand on her wrist. They had had to wait thirty more minutes before finding an opportunity to leave, and each had downed another drink during that time. They made about four wrong turns before Rey got her bearings, and within minutes they were behind her door. She wasn’t sure if anybody watched them enter, and to be honest, she really didn’t care.

His mouth was hot on her neck, and he sucked purposefully, as if to make a point for earlier. She walked backwards, her back hitting her bed, and then they were kissing sloppily. He reached into her hair and spread his fingers, uncoiling the braids and separating the strands until they fell along her shoulders in waves. Rey untucked his shirt with shaky, eager hands, trailing up the planes of his stomach.

Ben placed a knee on other side of her hips as he straightened to remove his shirt, and Rey stared up at him with parted lips. The last time she had truly seen him like this was through their bond while she was on Ahch-To, but now that he was in front of her, the sight was even more intimidating.

She swallowed, moving up to her elbows at the same moment he came down to reconnect their lips. His hands fumbled for the clasp on the back of her dress and she moved to sit up so he could find it better. When he undid the piece he broke their contact, slowly unwrapping her. Too slow. Rey removed his hands and shrugged the remainder of her dress off and then her shoes, before moving up the bed.

She was a bundle of nerves, purely acting on instinct, but right now she knew what she wanted. He crawled over her, nestling between her legs as he cupped her breasts over the strange clothed item known as a ‘bra.’ She would never understand why the wealthy wore such strange attire when wrappings worked just as well.

Rey released a small _‘oh’_ when his thumb dipped under the covering to brush over her nipple. He made a noise of his own as his erection rubbed against her firmly, and her panties began to stick to her.

He reached behind her again, with more caution this time, as if she would protest. She didn’t, however, and although she was a little self-conscious of him seeing her like this in the light, her desire won out. She straightened her spine as he removed the layer.

He stared down at her breasts, his hands cupping each one before he dipped his head and took a nipple between his teeth. Rey closed her eyes, her stomach twisting in pleasure and her breathing hitching.

And then his hand was between her legs.

He groaned as he felt how wet she was. He inserted a finger before he retracted it and began to rub her clit in tight circles as he fucked her mouth with his tongue. He tasted like the sweet berries of the liquor they had drank. She moaned quietly as he increased the pressure of his fingers, and soon her legs began to twitch.

“You don’t…know…how long…I’ve wanted to do this,” he muttered in between kisses.

Rey didn’t know what to say, but she didn’t think she _could_ say anything intelligible if she tried. There was a coiling heat building in her stomach, flushing downwards.

“Ben,” she gasped, as he sucked on her neck again, and he increased his speed.

“You’re so wet,” he groaned. “I’m going to make you come for me.”

Rey’s back carefully arched off the bed the higher she climbed. She was so close. His fingers were merciless.

“Come for me,” he said, his voice low and commanding in her ear.

So she did. Her body shuddered, the waves making her tremble. She gasped loudly, almost embarrassingly so, but she was too caught up in the feeling to care.

When she came down he was removing her panties entirely, tossing them onto the ground.

She sat up on her elbows again, watching as he kicked off his shoes and removed his pants. She watched his cock strain against his boxers. He eyed her curiously, palming himself in his hand. The action made her stomach flip. She studied him as he finally removed his boxers and then she stared. She didn’t know if it was impolite, but Rey was nothing if not pragmatic, and she had never seen this part of the male body before.

Rey watched him awkwardly climb onto the bed again, and she realized the alcohol actually _had_ affected him in some way. His movements were slightly off, not as coordinated as they normally were.

“I’m going to fuck you,” he told her, but it wasn’t commanding, and he was looking at her, almost unsurely, despite using a phrase that was meant to sound confident. “Would you like that?” he added, as an afterthought.

Rey swallowed. “I’ve never done that before.”

“…I know.”

“And…you have?” It didn’t really matter to her of course, so she wasn’t even sure why she asked it. He carried this confidence about him in the bedroom that made him seem experienced, so when he finally shook his head, her eyes widened.

“Are you shocked?” he asked, bending down to kiss her knee.

“You just…you seem like you _know_ things-”

“Not everyone grew up in an AT-AT.”

She scrunched up her nose and kicked out with her foot, but he caught it, pressing a fierce kiss to her inner thigh, and then attacking her clit with his mouth. Rey’s gasp transformed into a sigh as he ate her, his vigorous movements causing his hair to shake.

When she had made a sizeable puddle on the mattress, he climbed over her again, licking his hand and rubbing down himself a few times.

“It’s going to hurt,” he said bluntly.

“I know that much,” she replied, staring up at him. “Just do it.”

He shifted closer, and she reached down to adjust him slightly until he found the proper placement. He massaged his tip at her entrance, watching her carefully, and then he slid in slowly to the hilt.

There was a prick of pain, but it wasn’t as terrible as Rey thought it would be. It was mostly discomfort, and she had to dig her nails into his shoulder a couple of times to still him for a few, long seconds. Eventually, as he began to move gradually, the pain and discomfort ebbed, and although there was a minor soreness, it wasn’t unpleasant. Especially not when he began rubbing her clit again.

Soon he was moving feverishly inside her, kissing her everywhere he could, murmuring how _fucking good_ she felt. She could tell he was close when his movements on her clit because shaky, and she pulled his hand away gently, allowing him to balance himself so he could finish. She watched his eyebrows furrow, his lips part. A few more thrusts and he was moaning her name and coming inside her, filling her with a warm, sticky liquid.

He hovered over her for a few more moments before slowly extracting himself. He kissed her ferociously and then rolled onto his back. He used his other arm to pull her so her face was pressed against his chest. He reached down and began playing with her clit lazily, until her breathing became shallow again.

Ben murmured quietly in her ear as he touched her. He talked about how good she had tasted on his tongue, how he loved hearing her moan his name. He kept moving his fingers and whispering and then she came with a sigh, her body shuddering against his once more.

They lay there silently, just thinking. Rey wished they could lie there for days.

“You can’t stay here,” she reminded him gently, when the sweat had cooled on their skin.

He turned his head to kiss her again, sucking on her bottom lip. “Watch me,” he murmured against her mouth.  


	11. Chapter 11

 

 

_“Do you think he’ll be killed?”_

_“…I’m not sure.”_

_“Luke…I can’t watch him die.”_

_“I know.”_

\---

 

A few days later, when they were back on base, Rey, Ben and Leia were called before the council. Rey’s stomach was already a bundle of knots; no doubt this briefing had to do with this new ‘plan’ the Twi’lek woman had mentioned at the gala.

She did not have a good feeling about this.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us,” one of the humans on the council said, and Rey and Ben exchanged looks. It’s not like they had a choice.

Leia raised her chin. “May I ask why General Dameron and Finn were not called to this meeting?”

The Twi’lek woman folded her hands. “This matter does not concern them, nor does it pertain to the team’s upcoming search on Hoth. The council would like to address an additional, _promotional_ assignment, which just involves Rey and Ben Solo.” She paused. “The gala on Naboo was quite telling in terms of general attitudes towards the redeemed Solo as well as his relationship with the last Jedi.”

Ben clenched his fists, and Rey’s face burned. She didn’t enjoy being examined like an insect, and she could tell Ben _certainly_ didn’t.

“There is still an unfortunate amount of distrust in regards to Solo,” the human male said. “This needs to change if we’re going to heal old war wounds.”

“We believe Rey is the key,” mentioned another woman, who was an unfamiliar species to Rey.

“How so?” Leia questioned, with an air of impatience.

The Twi’lek woman’s eyes swept over Rey and Ben, and she smiled in a way that made Rey’s blood chill.

“The council would like to formally announce the nuptial engagement of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Solo.”

Rey’s jaw dropped, and Ben made a strange noise in his throat. Rey’s world began to blur. Marriage? A fake marriage? She cared for Ben, truly she did, but she had never wanted to get married. It didn’t appeal to her, and she didn’t see a point.

She had given so much to the New Republic in battle and otherwise she thought this would be one aspect of her life where they would not interfere. She thought this would be her choice. Apparently she was wrong.

Leia appeared just as shocked, but she hid it better than Rey and Ben. “I hardly think this is necessary.”

“The council believes such an arrangement will squash any lingering doubts about Solo’s character,” the human man continued. “After all, Rey has proven herself to be unique, a new kind of Jedi that will lead future Force sensitives down a different path.” He smiled. “What better way to promote unity and break old traditions than to wed the last Jedi to the former Supreme Leader of the First Order?”

“Are you completely idiotic?” Ben spat, and the council went stone still. Rey glanced at Ben in shock. He rarely spoke during council meetings, probably because he knew it would be easier for him if he stayed silent. Apparently his restraint had broken.

“Excuse me?” the Twi’lek woman asked sharply.

He clenched his jaw. “She won your fucking war for you, while you cowered behind your desk, and now you have the audacity to order her like a subordinate? To shackle her?” He glared fiercely at the councilmembers. “It’s pathetic.”

“I would advise you to tread carefully,” the councilwoman warned. “The council has already been generous granting you-”

“Generous? _Generous?_ ”

“Ben,” Leia said firmly.

Ben quieted, perhaps acknowledging he was losing his temper. His face was bright red, and the veins in his neck looked like they would burst. Leia turned to address the council.

“As much as I don’t agree with my son’s colorful language, I have to agree with him. This arrangement hardly seems appropriate.”

“I highly disagree,” the Twi’lek woman continued, lifting her chin. “I don’t think it’s inappropriate given the objective, nor do I suspect it will be unbelievable to assume, given their behavior at the Nabooian gala.” Her eyes landed on Rey. “The council is not immune to the speculative gossip of noble people.” She shook her head. “Arguing is futile. The council has already come to its decision. The announcement will be made the following week, the ceremony within the month. You’re dismissed.”

Rey was silent as she, Leia and Ben left the room. She was astounded with her own silence, as she wasn’t normally known for keeping her own temper in check. She blamed it on the shock of it all.

“So that’s it?” Ben hissed to his mother. “You’re just going to bow before them?”

“I recused myself from all rulings that involved you,” Leia informed him, tight-lipped. “To avoid any biases on your account.”

“You expect me to believe you would lean in my favor?” Ben asked incredulously, suspiciously. “Even now?”

“You’re my son,” Leia snapped, and the two of them came to a stop, glaring at each other.

Rey watched them, and then deciding it was best to give them privacy, she continued walking. Neither of them noticed her absence.

 

\---

 

“How’d the meeting go?” Finn asked the next day, adjusting his winter coat.

They all were dressed in some form of down, for Hoth was known to be unforgivably cold. Rey, being desert raised, was not looking forward to the climate, but she was excited to see snow again. She had only witnessed it once, on Starkiller.

Rey shrugged, not particularly wanting to discuss the subject of her impending marriage to Ben, especially when she didn’t know how to feel about it. She cast a look at her husband-to-be, who was sulking in the corner as usual. They hadn’t spoken about the meeting, and Rey didn’t even know how to bring it up.

As the _Falcon_ landed in the snow, the door opened, and Rey was hit with an icy blast. She automatically clutched her coat closer to her.

“Don’t bother leaving,” she heard Poe say to Chewie. “We’ll only be a couple of hours. I’m not planning on freezing to death.”

Chewie roared in agreement.

BB-8 rolled beside Poe, as he was the first to dismount. Ben, Rey, and Finn followed closely behind. Poe yelled something, but it was nearly impossible to hear over the shrill winds. He gestured to an ice cave about a half-mile away, and the rest of them took the hint.

It took longer to get there than expected. They had to trudge through about six inches of snow, so progress was slow. Rey decided that as beautiful as snow was, it was a nuisance.

At one point Ben’s foot hit a block of ice, and he faltered. Finn instinctually grabbed his shoulder to steady him, but Ben shook him off.

“Thanks,” he said gruffly, as an afterthought, and Finn gave him a curt nod.

It was a relief to finally reach the cave, for the shelter offered a cover from the icy winds. They all lowered their hoods, and BB-8 twisted violently, spinning the remaining snow off of him. Rey craned her neck to peer into the cave. It was entirely made of ice, and it was complexly carved. There were a variety of twisting paths that branched off from one another, making it the perfect place for someone to hide.

“Let’s split up,” Poe suggested, sniffing. “Rey, Solo, you go right. Finn, BB-8 and I will go left. Let’s meet back up in an hour.”

As the latter three took their path, Rey realized Ben had already started walking to the right, not bothering to wait for her. Rey jogged to catch up to him, nearly falling on her rear as she skidded across the ice floor.

They walked in silence for a very long time, until she couldn’t take it anymore.

“You’re cross with me then?” Rey guessed, although she couldn’t imagine why.

Ben grunted. “No.”

“But you’re not happy.”

“I’m never happy.”

Rey huffed. “I didn’t want this either, you know. I can’t help what the council decides.”

“You certainly didn’t protest it when it mattered,” he grumbled.

Annoyance and hurt shot through Rey. “I didn’t realize the idea was so torturous to you.”

He sighed. “Rey-”

“You haven’t properly spoken to me since that night,” she blurted, remembering Naboo. “Have you no longer a use for me?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he snapped, spinning around and halting in his tracks. “I haven’t been using you.”

“Then why have you been silent? Why are you so…so _disturbed_ by the council’s proposal?” Rey cringed at her choice of words. “It’s not as if it’s my first choice, but there _are_ worse things, and it sounds like you would rather be bludgeoned than be-”

“I ruin things,” he interrupted her.

Rey paused. “Pardon?”

“I ruin things,” he repeated, his shoulders slumping, his anger dissipating. “I’m going to ruin this. I’m going to ruin you.”

She blinked in shock. “Ben…”

“Think about what you’re saying, Rey,” he said, his voice strained. “There are worse things? Your life wouldn’t be your own. Your life isn’tyour own now. You can’t come and go when you please, and that will only worsen if _this,_ ” he gestured between the two of them, “happens.” His face twisted in anger and misery. “And then I’ll just ruin it anyway.” When she didn’t respond, he shut his eyes in defeat.

Rey watched the pain manifest across his face, and then she wrapped her arms around him. He hesitated for several seconds before returning the embrace, as much as he could with their massive coats in the way. She buried her face in his neck, and the chill she had felt since leaving the _Falcon_ was replaced with deep warmth.

“I want to be with you, Ben,” she said lowly, her voice unwavering despite the nervousness she felt.

“You shouldn’t.”

“But I do.”

She felt him swallow against her cheek. “…I want that too.”

Rey drew back from him, so she could press a kiss to his mouth. His lips were cold due to the temperature, but she didn’t mind. His tongue slipped inside within seconds, moving feverishly against hers. Rey felt herself being walked backwards until her back was pressed against the icy wall, cold and heat cementing either side. Ben unbuttoned the top few notches in her coat so he could kiss her upper chest. He moved up her neck, over her jaw and back to her lips. She sighed against his mouth, making a small noise when he took her wrists and held them against the wall above her head. The place between her legs pulsed with heat as he attacked her mouth, his kisses becoming more intense-

And then with a grunt he was jerked back by the hood, and Rey slipped against the wall in surprise. It only took her a second to recognize Poe’s gloved fist clamped around the edge of Ben’s coat, glaring down at him with a mixture of disgust and outrage.

That was nothing compared to Finn’s face.

Rey had never seen her best friend so furious. His expression was black with rage, and as he surged forward, she didn’t even have time to process what he was doing. BB-8 beeped in alarm as Finn’s fist connected with Ben’s face, and the latter grunted as blood spurted from his nose.

“Stop!” Rey cried, as Poe tightened his grip, and Finn wound up his arm again. They didn’t seem like they were going to listen, so she acted on instinct, tossing out her arm, and all three men were thrown apart, stumbling against the ice.

Poe and Finn were the quickest to rise. “What the hell’s happening?” Finn demanded, his face red. “He was…he was _violating_ you Rey!”

Rey could imagine how it must have looked to them, with her pressed against the wall, her arms pinned above her head.

“No, it’s not, h-he’s not-” she fumbled to come up with the proper wording.

Luckily, BB-8 wasn’t so inarticulate, and he was apparently tired of keeping her secret. He beeped a couple of times, and Poe’s head snapped to his droid before jerking up to look at Rey and then Ben, and then back at Rey.

“You’re kidding, right?” he asked, half-laughing, half in outrage. “You guys? _Together_?”

Realization dawned on Finn’s face then, and he just looked sick. And hurt. And that was far worse than him being angry.

Ben rose to his feet, wiping at his nose, but otherwise remaining quiet.

Rey regarded Finn and Poe with desperate eyes. “I’m sorry. I-I was planning on telling you-”

“Is this,” Finn looked back and forth between them, “this is the council’s plan, isn’t it?” He seemed like he was trying to convince himself.

Rey bit her lip. “It’s more than that. It’s difficult to explain, but-”

“Do you love him?” Finn asked, his voice hurt and betrayed.

Rey didn’t answer, mostly because she _couldn’t;_ she didn’t even know for herself.

She watched with a sinking heart, as both men glared murderously at Ben, and she knew what little trust that had been formed between them was shattered. When it became apparent she wasn’t going to answer, Finn turned on his heel and marched back to the front of the cave. Poe gave Rey a hard and disappointed look, before catching up to comfort Finn. BB-8 made a sad beep and then followed.

Rey stared at her feet.

Needless to say they didn’t find anything of use on Hoth. They returned to base a few hours later, in what was probably the most uncomfortable journey thus far. Even Chewie could sense the tension between the group, but Rey knew he was above asking. She wondered if he would be just as furious if he had found out.

Ben nursed his bloody nose, which didn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. He sent her one slightly apologetic look during the journey, but she just shook her head. This was on her.

When they landed, Finn shouldered past her, and Poe gave her an exasperated glance before dismounting. To make matters worse, Leia was waiting for them, and she studied all of their postures, narrowing her eyes when she saw Ben’s bloody face. When she looked to Rey questioningly, Rey immediately avoided her gaze, feeling sick herself.

She retired early that night.

 

\---

 

She was woken at some point when a familiar buzzing filled her ears, and she watched as Ben manifested in the room across from her. His nose had stopped bleeding, but there was an awful bruise and quite a bit of swelling across his nose.

Rey burst into tears.

Ben hesitated before coming to her side, perhaps not knowing if she wanted to be close to him. His desire to comfort her won out, however, and she was dragged into his arms. Her sobs quieted, and she rubbed at her eyes, wincing when she saw she had made his shirt wet.

“I’m an awful person,” she murmured.

He snorted. “Yes, far worse than me.”

“I need to talk to Finn.”

“You should wait. He seemed pretty…upset.” He subconsciously lifted a hand to his battered face.

Rey sighed, burying her face in her hands. “I’ve compromised the entire assignment. You were all getting on so well.”

“We were?” Ben frowned, thoughtfully. “In comparison to the start, I suppose.”

“What am I going to do?” Rey said miserably. “The council is announcing our _engagement_ next week. Do you realize how that will seem?”

“Maybe you _should_ talk to them then,” Ben supplied, changing his mind. He curled his lip. “It seems like the…‘friend’ thing to do.”

They were silent for several moments.

“I’m sorry,” he said finally, his hand against her back.

She sighed again. “Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, so uncomfortable. I can imagine being Finn so hurt if he found out. I can’t wait to see how he’ll react to her and Ben’s bond in Episode IX. I’ve never ever thought there was anything remotely romantic between Finn and Rey, even in TFA, but he definitely does really love and care about her as a friend. They just have such a pure relationship.


	12. Chapter 12

 

_“The council has come to the decision after much deliberation that the accused will serve a life sentence to the New Republic.”_

_Rey’s eyes met Ben’s for the first time across the courtroom._

_He looked back._

\---

 

Rey found Finn in the training room a few days later. He was sparring with a droid and dominating it, but he seemed distracted nonetheless. When he noticed her presence he lowered his weapon, and went over to her, his arms crossed.

“We need to talk,” Rey said.

 “I’m listening.” He did well to keep his expression neutral.

“My relationship with Ben,” Rey began, and she already noticed Finn cringe at the word ‘relationship,’ “it’s…complicated. I know it’s difficult for you and Poe to see, but he isn’t the same person he was a year ago. He’s changed.” The explanation sounded lame, and she knew it. “I’ve been inside his mind,” she added. “I’ve seen things that I can’t possibly explain. I…I care about him.” She winced as she finished, and then gauged his reaction.

He seemed confused, and disgusted. Angry, and a bit sad as well.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Then he shook his head, changing his mind. “That doesn’t even matter. This is just…it’s wrong, Rey. I get we need to work with him but what I saw…” His face became red. “He _killed_ Han! He-he was the _Supreme Leader.”_

“I’m not excusing anything he’s done, but doesn’t he deserve a chance to show he’s changed?” Rey argued. “You were once a Stormtrooper.”

“I know! I know that! But it’s not the same! I _left_ before I could go down that path. I was given the choice to follow orders, to kill innocent people, and I left!” His face twisted in pain. “I can’t believe you don’t see a difference. I can’t believe you’re comparing me to him.” He cleared his throat, and his back became stiff. “I think I just…I just need some time apart from you to think this over.”

Rey’s eyes filled with tears. “Finn, please. You’re my best friend. You were my _first_ friend. I don’t want to lose you.”

For one moment Finn looked like he was about to cry, but he took a deep breath. “I’m not asking you to choose between me and him,” he said honestly. “But I’m allowed to be angry. I…I feel like I don’t really know who you are right now.”

He brushed past her as her face crumpled, and she covered her mouth to hold in her sob. Rey stayed there for a long time by herself, just sitting at the edge of the training room and thinking. She didn’t realize how late it had gotten until she heard the door open, and BB-8 and Poe came in, the latter holding a dining tray.

“You weren’t at dinner, so I thought I’d bring you something,” Poe offered, handing her the platter.

Rey glanced at the food miserably. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yeah, I know, but I did, so eat up.” He sat beside her, crossing his legs.

Rey took a small bite of bread and swallowed. “You don’t want space from me too?”

“I don’t think it’ll change anything,” Poe shrugged, “but Finn can do what he wants. He’s in shock. Hell, _I’m_ still in shock. I can’t get that visual out of my head.” He shuddered.

“You’re…not angry?”

“Oh, I’m furious,” Poe said, but he said it in his casual, lighthearted way, “but not really at you anymore. I guess if it were me, and I’m _so_ glad it’s not, I would do the same thing, keeping it a secret.” He leaned his head back against the wall, swiveling to look at her. “But come on. _Solo?_ Really, Rey?”

Rey blushed all the way to her hairline. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

“Good ‘cuz I don’t.” Poe shook his head at BB-8. “And now Bee-Bee’s telling me he’s known for over a week. That’s just cold.”

BB-8 beeped.

“I’ve destroyed everything,” Rey said miserably.

Poe raised an eyebrow. “Damn. Solo’s poor attitude’s already rubbing off on you.”

Rey sent him a half-hearted glare.

“It will be okay,” Poe added, clasping her shoulder in companionship. He sighed. “If it makes you feel better, I _can_ actually recognize he’s not the same asshole who tortured me way back when. He’s still an asshole, but a different kind of asshole.” His mouth quirked up. “And I trust your judgment. I get there’s a part of him…I don’t know what it is; something in the Force maybe, that makes sense to you. Finn will see that too. Eventually.”

Rey stared at Poe, and then she was throwing her arms around him, knocking over her tray in the process. The pilot chuckled and squeezed her in return, patting her back.

When they detached themselves, Rey wiped at her eyes, not even realizing they had become wet again. “Well, at least it’s a comfort to know I’m not the only one with a secret relationship.”

Poe jerked his head back in bewilderment, and it was so unlike him that Rey burst out laughing.

“Yeah, yeah,” Poe waved her off. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“Of course not.”

Poe grinned, rising from his seat. “No more secrets, alright Rey?” He said it in his snarky way, but Rey knew he was serious.

“Alright.” She paused as something occurred to her. “Then there’s something you should know. The council called Ben and I in to-”

“Yeah. Leia told me this morning.” Poe grimaced. “I also told Finn, which was probably why he’s been in an especially rich mood. Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” Rey sighed. She was past taking things too personally.

“What are you going to do?”

“What _can_ I do?”

“I could fight this with you,” Poe offered. “If you really don’t want to…to marry him.”

Rey looked up in surprise. “You would do that?”

Poe smiled. “I have my uses.”

Rey frowned in thought. “I’ll…consider it. But thank you, Poe. I mean it.”

“Anything for you.”

 

\---

 

Two nights later, Rey snuck into Ben’s chamber in between guard shifts. She felt guilty going to him when Finn was so cross with her, but she couldn’t be separated from him for a moment longer. She hadn’t hinted she was visiting, so when his door closed behind her, he glanced up in surprise.

Without hesitation she grabbed the front of his shirt and smashed her mouth to his, smiling against his lips when he made a startled noise. He got the message quickly, however, as he shifted his arms around her and lifted her onto his bunk.

In her whirlwind of emotions, it felt nice knowing one thing in her life made sense.

They shed their clothes quickly, his lips easily finding her nipples and sucking until they were hard. She wrapped her fingers around his cock with some hesitance, pausing when he stiffened.

“Show me what to do,” she told him.

He seemed eager to do just that.

He ordered her to spit in her hand, which she did, although she couldn’t fathom for what reason. He guided her hand back over his cock, moving their hands together, showing her just how he liked it. When his hand fell away, she began to pick up the pace, biting her lip as he groaned. When his body became tense he jerked away from her, and she sat up in confusion, fearing she had done something wrong.

“Lie down,” he commanded, his voice strained. She understood as he climbed over her, his hand on himself as he kissed her neck. She felt him line up with her entrance, and then he was inside her, moving rapidly.

The discomfort came back at first, and she had him slow down for a few seconds as she adjusted. Soon, however, she was murmuring for him to go faster, and his hand came around the back of her knee to bend one of her legs.

Rey began to feel heat deep inside of her as he hit this one place over and over again. It almost felt like she had to urinate, and for a second she was afraid that she would. After a few moments of feeling this sensation, however, she began to understand this was something different.

Ben cupped the back of her head and kissed her before sucking on her shoulder. “You like it when I fuck you like this, don’t you?” He lifted his head, when she didn’t answer. “Don’t you, Rey?”

“Yes,” she gasped, mortified and exhilarated at the same time. That feeling was coming back, pulsing over and over.

Ben reached down to play with her clit, and Rey realized he was probably near the end of his own rope. His movements were quick, but careful, and his teeth were gritted. His hand circled her rapidly, and there was so much happening and-

_“Oh,”_ she gasped in half-shock, half-pleasure as she came, her body clenching around him. She had barely come down before he was coming, his hands tightening on her shoulders as he rode her through his own release.

He collapsed on top of her, making sure to keep most of his weight on his elbows. He met her eyes, and she gave him a weak smile, not knowing what else to do. He leaned up and kissed her softly then, cupping her cheek as he did so.

Afterwards, when they lay in a tangle of limbs, Rey decided to bring up the inevitable.

“The announcement’s tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

Rey bit her lip. “Poe mentioned he could talk to the council on our behalf.”

“Did he?” Ben replied, without much emotion. He turned his head on his pillow to look at her. “Do you want him to?”

“Do you?”

Ben thought about it. “It doesn’t make a difference to me anymore.”

Rey raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

“Because either way, I’ll be with you.”

Rey’s chest filled with some sort of emotion, and she swallowed heavily. “I…I’m dreading the ceremony,” she told him honestly.

He winced. “I can’t imagine it will be in a style I would prefer,” he agreed. They were quiet for a long time. A very long time. And then- “We could do it before.”

“What?”

“Quietly. In secret.” Rey watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “That way…we can maintain some semblance of control.”

“Alright.”

“Alright?” he echoed, seeming partly surprised she had agreed so readily.

She nodded. Rey’s hand found his, and she interlocked their fingers. He matched their palms together, holding her smaller hand in a firm grip.

“We’re getting married,” she said out loud for the first time, the phrase sounding foreign and a bit wrong, but not awful.

He kissed the back of her hand. “It appears so.”

 

\---

 

Rey had never sweat so much in her life. And she wasn’t even moving.

“Okay, now drop your hand and turn towards him,” the director was saying as his assistant adjusted the camera angle. “Now…no don’t raise you hands, keep them still, now look at him, but don’t glare, but…alright let’s try that again.”

“I think I need a break,” Rey said, wiping at her forehead.

The director gazed at Leia in exasperation, but the General would offer him no sympathy.

“Give her five minutes,” she said.

The director huffed. “We’re already behind schedule. It’s taken us over an hour to record what should be a thirty second spot.”

“Give her _five_ minutes,” Leia reiterated, and he slumped his shoulders in defeat.

“Fine.” He turned to Rey and Ben. “ _Five minutes._ No more.” Then he turned and began speaking to his assistant, something about ISO settings.

“This is worse than I thought,” Rey muttered to Ben, pinching her tunic away from her sweaty lower back.

“You’re overthinking it,” he responded. “Just read the lines.”

“How can you be so calm? We’re announcing our _engagement._ ”

“Because this doesn’t matter,” he told her bluntly. “This is all for show. This isn’t _real._ We could be announcing what you had breakfast this morning. You’re overthinkingit.”

Rey sighed. “You’re right.”

“I know,” he said, but he subtly took her hand and squeezed it.

He released it just as quickly when Leia came over to them. Rey was glad Poe and Finn were not allowed into the recording space; she knew it would be so much worse with Finn’s eyes watching her with Ben.

“Rey,” Leia said, her eyes a mixture of sympathy and order. “This is a waste of your time. Let’s pull it together and focus, so we can end this, alright?”

“Yes, General,” Rey responded, glad for her frankness.

As Leia retreated to her corner, the director spun around, clasping his hands together. “Let’s give this another go, shall we?”

A few hours later half the base crowded in the main area to watch the holo message. No one, other than a select few, knew of the impending engagement. Ben had been ordered to stay in his room, guarded, during the announcement. Rey assumed it was because most of the people on base were former Resistance members, and they would not take kindly to him marrying their beacon of hope.

Rey peered through the crowd and saw Finn and Rose sitting at a table. Rose caught her eye and waved to her, and Rey gave her a small smile. Finn stared straight ahead, seeming conflicted and very uncomfortable.

“He’s got a habit of running from his feelings,” Poe inferred as he came up behind her and clasped her shoulder. “Not the subtlest.”

“It’s fine,” Rey said softly, her eyes finally breaking away from her friend.

“How’d the recording go?” Poe asked, and then grinned when Rey grimaced. “That bad, huh?”

“You’re about to see for yourself,” Rey said, her head practically sinking into her shoulders.

Sure enough the screen in front of her former comrades lit up, and the Twi’lek councilwoman sat in the center, her arms folded. She spoke of the usual themes of post-war times, regurgitating unity, camaraderie, and the new generation. She talked about redemption and mercy, and used the transition to discuss Ben Solo. As she talked about the former villain, old clips of Ben from the two galas began to play.

Rey frowned. She wasn’t aware there were even cameras at the events.

She watched herself stiffly and silently interacting with noble people and senators, Ben always by her side. As the Twi’lek woman continued to speak over the footage, Rey blocked out her words, completely mesmerized as she watched herself and Ben dance, her dress concealing the fact she was actually just standing on his toes.

Finally, the part she had been dreading flickered onto the screen. Rey and Ben stood side by side, looking at each other. The original plan was to have Rey announce their engagement, but after the fiftieth take, it was decided the news would be relayed via voiceover.

Rey watched as she smiled on screen and then rotated to face Ben. Their hands rose at the same time to interlock between them. Ben didn’t smile, even though the director had told him countless times it would be better for him to show ‘his friendly side.’ Ben’s reaction at the time had been priceless.

As the holo continued, many people in the hall began murmuring to each other in confusion, and Poe gave her shoulder another squeeze. Rey’s stomach turned violently. As soon as the announcement became clear, it was going to be chaos.

The Ben and Rey on the screen took a step closer to each other, and the recorded version of herself smiled wider. It looked entirely forced to her, but the director assured her it was the best they were going to get.

“If this war has proved anything,” the Twi’lek woman’s voice narrated, “it is that in times of fear and violence there can be hope and strength…and love.”

Rey held her breath.

“This is why the council is delighted to announce the engagement of Rey and Ben Solo.”

The Twi’lek woman stopped speaking, and the screen held the image of Rey and Ben staring at each other intensely. It was dead silent in the hall.

And then everything fell apart.

Shouts of outrage filled the space, hundreds of angry voices echoing off the metal walls. Hordes of people stood up at once and some people even began throwing trays or shoes or anything they could find at the screen, until the image of the two of them became cracked.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Poe muttered, taking her by the shoulders and steering her out the back entrance.

As they escaped the main hall, Rey couldn’t help but wonder if Finn was part of the riot.

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

            A few days after the announcement, it was time for the group to continue their assignment. Their journey led them to the outer rims this time, via Poe’s command. They had already explored the major planets where high-ranking officials of the First Order could blend in, with no success, so the pilot thought the next logical location would be a more remote planet.

The ride aboard the _Falcon_ wasn’t nearly as awkward as Rey would have thought. Poe seemed to be almost entirely over Rey and Ben’s relationship, but then again, his talkative nature could have been an attempt to overcompensate on Finn’s behalf. Finn himself was not particularly angry, but he certainly wasn’t the charismatic, loving person Rey knew him to be. She suspected he still needed time, as did the rest of the galaxy, to take in the news of their engagement.

“This is good. Right here, Chewie,” Poe told the Wookiee. Apparently Poe had received his own tidbit of information regarding the whereabouts of one Admiral Hux, and he was keen to check out the lead for himself.

As the _Falcon_ landed on a small lime colored moon, however, Rey became skeptical. The satellite seemed devoid of any real civilizations, something she was sure Hux would crave in a hiding spot. She didn’t question Poe though, for she knew the General was more experienced than her in these matters.

As the team dismounted the vessel, Rey took the time to study the layout of the landscape. Nearly everything was oddly colored, from the earth to the smatterings of buildings. The architecture was quaint, but complex, making it hard to decipher the economic status of this moon’s residents. Now that she thought about it, this location just might be odd enough for someone who wanted to disappear to seek shelter.

“My source said our best bet is through the trees here, away from the crowds,” Poe informed them, his hand gripping the handle of his blaster. “I would say we should split up, but I don’t know if that’s the best idea at the moment.” His eyes skidded over Rey and Ben.

Rey blushed in mortification while Ben sent the pilot one of his most murderous glares.

“It doesn’t matter,” Finn said. “Let’s just stay together.” And then he walked towards the outcroppings of trees without another word.

Rey and Poe exchanged a glance before jogging to catch up with Finn, BB-8 rolling behind them. Ben brought up the rear at his own pace; he wasn’t in any hurry.

As the team ventured into the depths of the planet, Rey gazed around in wonder. She had never been to a place so green before. The ground, the trees, even the color of the sky had a greenish tint to it. It was far different from the orange sands of Jakku or the grays and whites of the old Resistance base.

Rey peeked over her shoulder to check on Ben, noting how he lagged behind. She knew he was doing it for her benefit; he didn’t want to make things more complicated for her than he had to. The notion was sweet, but even so, she wished it didn’t have to be this way. If she had just been straightforward with her friends from the start, there wouldn’t have to be this unnecessary tension.

The team searched for hours, and by the time the three suns in the sky began to set, they were all panting and damp with sweat. Poe slumped against a nearby tree, wiping a gloved hand over his face.

“No use searching in the dark. Might as well make camp for the night.”

“And what do you suggest we eat?” Ben inquired acidly.

Poe shot him a half-hearted glare. “Believe it or not, I packed us some portions.” He dug into his pockets and threw a packet at Ben before handing Rey and Finn their share. “Dig in.”

“Thanks, I’m starved,” Finn said, opening the packet and pouring the food molecules into his mouth.

Rey sat on the forest floor, crossing her legs as she opened her own packet. “We’ll need to make a fire,” she informed Poe.

He winked at her. “Already one step ahead of you.”

He gestured to BB-8 and the droid proudly rolled forward, firing his head blasters at a nearby, skinny tree. The trunk erupted into flames, causing all four members to flinch at the abrupt light and heat.

“Alright, not exactly what I had in mind but…this works,” Poe said, taking a seat on the lush, green ground.

Finn sat on the other side of Poe, and it didn’t escape Rey that he had chosen the spot furthest away from both her and Ben. She tried not to be offended, but it hurt to see her best friend so distant from her. She wasn’t sure what else she could do to make things right.

She felt Ben’s eyes on her briefly, before he too settled down for the night. She could tell he was uncomfortable at the prospect of sleeping so out in the open, especially among a crowd where more than half his company despised him, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He rested his head and back upright against a larger trunk, and Rey knew this was the most relaxed he would allow himself to be given the circumstances.

Rey didn’t feel much like sleeping, so she instead found a place a decent ways away from the burning trunk. She crossed her legs and straightened her back, and once she was sure everyone else was nice and comfortable, she began to meditate.

The process came easier to her than she would have expected. She opened her eyes only seconds later to find she had successfully reached a meditative state. The area around her was completely white, a stark contrast to the peaceful greens of the moon landscape.

There was a figure in the distance, and her feet led her towards it. At first she expected so see Luke, but as she drew closer the form undoubtedly belonged to a woman.

_Leia?_

The woman stood, still and straight and strong. Her back was to Rey, and the last Jedi considered calling out to the figure, demanding she turn around. It turned out she didn’t need to, for after a few agonizing moments the woman swiveled slowly, gracefully, to land her eyes on Rey.

It wasn’t Leia, but it was a carbon copy of her.

Rey knew at once it was the woman from the statue. Padmé Amidala. Ben’s grandmother.

Seeing her here, standing so certainly before her made Rey’s throat go dry, and she was at a loss for words.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t try.

“I-I know who you are,” Rey told the woman.

Padmé regarded her curiously. Her lips thinned, but her eyes alighted with a mixture of suspicion and amusement. “Well, that’s wonderful to hear.”

A million thoughts and questions swarmed in Rey’s head, but she ended up saying the first thing that came to her mind.

“Did you ever find it impossible to love your husband?” For some reason, she found she couldn’t say either of his names.

Padmé watched her carefully. “Once you love someone, that love never truly changes, even if they do.”

Rey didn’t know what she would achieve by asking such a question, but she felt like it was important to know. She watched in wonder as Padmé cocked her head to the side, regarding her with a knowing smile.

“It’s time to wake up, little Jedi.”

Her expression contrasted so much from the ominous phrase, that Rey immediately sensed something was wrong in the physical world. All at once, she was jolted from her meditation, and she barely had time to recognize what was happening when the Force tugged at her senses in warning.   
“Wha-”

And then something hard collided with her head.

 

\---

 

Rey woke up choking, and she realized quickly she was gagged. Her arms and legs were bound with restraints, extending to her elbows and knees. She turned her head with a groan. Ben was beside her, in a similar state. Judging from his steady breathing he was still unconscious. Rey’s eyes darted around their containment space, and her heartbeat picked up when she couldn’t find any signs of Finn, Poe, or BB-8.

She nudged against Ben’s mind her panic making her movements more aggressive than she normally would have liked. He jerked awake abruptly, his voice making a strange, gargled noise as he fought against his gag. He looked at her with wild eyes, before he regained his bearings.

_Where are we?_ He asked through the bond.

_I don’t know._

_Where are the others?_

_I don’t know._ She could hear her heartbeat in her ears. She tugged uselessly at her arms and legs again, trying to concentrate through her panic.

“Don’t bother.” A crisp, slightly nasally voice said from the corner of the room.

Rey and Ben’s eyes both focused on the figure before them. He was shrouded in shadow, but as he stepped partly into the light, Rey caught a glint of red hair and a patronizing smirk. “The restraints are Force resistant.” His lips, almost purple in color, curled upwards. “I’m sure you understand such precautions are necessary.”

Rey had never directly spoken with Hux, but she had seen enough holo posters of his face to recognize it instantly. He was as prim and snarky as his image had detailed. His eyes were beady, and his visage seemed to be twisted into a permanent look of distaste.

Ben, apparently momentarily forgetting that he had been gagged, tried to bark something in response, but of course, nothing came out.

“That was also my idea, I’m afraid,” Hux said, referring to the gag. “I’ve had to listen to your bothersome tantrums for years. I think I deserve some peace and quiet.”

As he stepped closer, Rey noticed he was flanked by a small group of Stormtroopers, dressed in their trademark uniforms. Apparently Hux still had some loyal followers.

She wanted to demand where they were, what he had done with Poe and Finn and BB-8, but she could barely move, and she couldn’t speak. At least not out loud.

_We need to find a way out of this._

_Any ideas?_ Came Ben’s bitter response.

_I’m thinking._

Hux cocked his head to the side as he examined Ben, lying on the floor before him. “I can’t say I’m surprised with this outcome. I never believed you. Not for a second. The girl was never strong enough to best Snoke, not to mention you, _and_ an entire Praetorian guard.” He raised his chin. “It was always so pathetic, the way you pined after her. And look where it got you.” He paused before kicking Ben harshly in the ribs. Rey saw him grimace in pain, and she made a growl of protest.

“And you,” Hux drawled, coming to stand over her. “A filthy scavenger, has managed to bring down the entire First Order.” His eyes glistened in fury, as he crouched. He brought a gloved hand to grip her chin. “I would slit your dirty throat now if we were aboard the _Finalizer,_ yet we are not. You made sure of that, didn’t you?”

He promptly released her chin and stood slowly, and then, thinking better of it, he leant over and backhanded her across the face. The bottom corner of her lip split open at the contact, and a weak droplet of red leaked down her chin. Hux placed the hand that had struck her behind his back, acting as if nothing unusual or violent had transpired. He began to circle them.

“I’m certain the New Republic would pay a pretty credit for you,” he continued, ignoring the glares of both his captives. “I’m not interested in their money, mind you, but I have to admit, having their precious, sand rat does put me in a favorable bargaining position.” Hux came to stand in front of them again. His eyes shifted from Rey to Ben. “As for you Ren, I can’t imagine the Republic is eager to see you returned, nor am I feeling particularly merciful, given our history.”

He extended his hand, and one of the Stormtroopers gave him a blaster. Hux swept his arm around, aiming the weapon directly at Ben’s forehead. Rey’s eyes widened, and she began violently struggling against her restraints. Ben remained eerily still, though his entire body was wrought with tension and his breathing picked up.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited to do this,” Hux said his finger reaching for the trigger.

At that moment, one of the Stormtroopers rushed forward, barreling into Hux as he fired. The blast hit the wall right above Ben’s head, melting the metal. The other Stormtroopers in the room began to rush to Hux and the rogue minion, removing their own blasters. Before they could come to their leader’s aid, however, a second rogue Trooper slammed his fist into the side of one the other’s helmets, stealing his weapon. He then used it to fire straight into the chests of the remaining Troopers, save for the one who was grappling with Hux.

Rey made a noise of alarm as the Trooper with the blaster came towards her. For one startling moment she thought he would blast her next, but the rogue removed his helmet, revealing familiar salt and pepper hair and a snarky smile.

Poe Dameron bent down and removed Rey’s gag. She spluttered, a mixture of blood and spit falling down her chin, and once Poe had removed her restraints she wiped her mouth. Her eyes went over to the other Stormtrooper, who she now deduced was Finn. He had Hux pinned to the ground, and the redhead’s veins practically popped from his temple in fury.

“What is the meaning of this?! You filthy, rebel scum-”

“Sorry we took so long. Wanted to wait for the right moment and all that,” Poe said, removing Ben’s gag and restraints next.

“How did you escape?” Rey asked in wonder, standing on her feet. She smiled as BB-8 rolled in, giving a victorious spin.

Poe freed Ben, and the two stood, the latter nursing the side Hux had kicked. Poe grinned at Rey. “They made the mistake of pairing a couple of witless Stormtroopers against the Resistance’s finest,” he pointed to himself modestly and then turned to Finn. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Finn responded, cuffing Hux before removing his helmet. His eyes made contact with Ben, and the two both seemed incredibly awkward. He _had_ just saved his enemy’s life after all.

“Uh,” Ben said, nodding uncomfortably. “Thank you…FN...Finn.”

Finn’s eyes widened at the use of his name, and he cleared his throat several times. “Don’t mention it.”

“Hate to break this love fest up,” Poe said, “but BB-8’s already found a way to phone the Republic so…let’s try to get off this base without getting blasted.” Poe reached down to the fallen Stormtroopers and handed Ben and Rey each a blaster.

“How many Stormtroopers are on this base?” Ben inquired.

“A lot,” Finn responded. “More than we can take on.”

“My saber,” Rey said suddenly, patting her belt.

Poe cocked his head at Hux. He casually strolled up to the Admiral as Finn hauled the man to his feet. “Think you can help us out with that, General Hugs?”

Hux glowered.

Several minutes later, the team, plus a captive Hux, made their way down a poorly lit corridor, pausing before they rounded a corner, so they could allow a group of Stormtroopers to pass. Poe held a hand to Hux’s mouth so he wouldn’t call for help, and then made a show of shaking off his hand after he had removed it.

“So it’s in that room there?” Poe confirmed.

“Must I say it again, pilot?” Hux hissed, and Poe lazily aimed a blaster in his direction.

“Careful, Hugs. The council may want you alive, but then again they and I don’t really get along.”

“I’ll be right back,” Rey told her friends, as she moved into the room to secure her saber. After she had entered the correct code-something Hux had grumpily given up-she opened the vault and wrapped her fingers around her prized weapon.

No sooner had she moved back to join her friends did the entire base blare with alarms.

Poe aimed his blaster at Hux’s head. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Hux spat. “It’s not my fault you’ve left a trail wherever you went!”

BB-8 let out a beep of alarm as the sounds of hundreds of footsteps echoed in the distance.

“We’re dead. We’re so dead!” Finn cried.

Ben removed his blaster, his eyes sweeping over them all. “Don’t just stand there, move!”

They didn’t need to be told twice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: the escape as well as talk of Ben and Rey’s awkward engagement ceremony/wedding. I will resume posting Monday 4/29/19.


	14. Chapter 14

            Rey’s feet pounded against the metal railing as she and the rest of the group ran for their lives. She spun around and deflected laser fire whenever she could, but it was getting hard to keep track of who was shooting where, even with the Force.

“You idiots!” Hux shouted to his minions over the mayhem. “Aim for them, not me!”

Poe shoved Hux forward before turning around and firing his own blaster, nailing a couple of Troopers in the chest. The team continued their sprint.

“We have to keep going!” Poe yelled. “The Republic will-Ah!” He ducked sharply as a ceiling fixture nearly landed on his head. “Damn, it’s hard to run in this,” he cursed, gesturing to his Trooper disguise.

“A landing port,” Rey panted, swinging her saber and deflecting more blasts. “There has to be a landing port of some kind.”

“Any ideas?” Finn shouted, shooting his blaster over his shoulder.

“Hugs, tell us where the nearest port is.”

“You think I would stoop to-”

“Enough of this,” Ben growled, grabbing Hux by the collar and slamming him into the wall. The rest of the team stopped in their sprint, and Rey stepped in front of the group to continue shielding them. “You will take us to the nearest docking port.”

Hux’s posture, once crumpled, straightened significantly as his eyes took on a faraway look. “I will take you to the nearest docking port.”

“If the council asks, I didn’t condone this,” Poe mentioned, though Rey doubted he could care much in the moment.

The group barreled down the hallway, now heading in a specific direction rather than just running blindly. They crossed a catwalk, the sight below a dark, seemingly bottomless pit. Ben swept his arm back and the first line of Stormtroopers fell, some into the gap, but the rest were merely trampled by the onslaught.

There were too many of them.

Rey stopped running halfway alone the catwalk and braced her stance. She twirled her saber expertly, staring down the approaching mob. The others quickly noticed her absence.

“Rey, what are you doing?” Finn cried.

“Keep going,” Rey shouted, over the blaster fire. “I can hold them off.”

Ben stepped beside her. “Don’t try to be foolishly heroic.” But he stood by her, rather than tried to get her to retreat.

Finn made to move forward too, but Poe gripped his shoulder, his eyes darting back and forth between the two. “You heard them.”

Finn whipped around, shock and betrayal on his face, but Poe eyed him levelly, adjusting his grip on Hux. 

“Come on, Finn.”

Rey didn’t see the last of their exchange, but Finn must have given in, for she heard them retreating. Ben crouched next to her hip, firing his blaster and using the Force to blow over Troopers whenever he could. He grunted as laser fire came dangerously close to his shoulder, and he swung out his arm angrily, knocking several more lines of assailants over the side of the railing. As Rey continued to swing her saber she did the same, but she and Ben steadily backed up when it became apparent this wasn’t a battle they could win; at least when only one of them had a lightsaber.

The sound of a roaring engine buzzed in her ears, and Rey’s head jerked up as she recognized the insignia of the New Republic. In her split second distraction, some of the blasts managed to slip her shield, and Ben cried out as one singed the front of his hip.

Horror and a blind anger coursed through her, and her arm sprang out on instinct. The Force burst from her fingertips and every Stormtrooper on the catwalk fell like dominos. That didn’t stop the others on more stable ground from firing though, so Rey had to return to her shielding methods.

“Forget it,” Ben wheezed as he stood. “Run.”

Sweat poured down her forehead as she shifted. “You first,” she gasped.

Ben gave her a look, but he spun and proceeded down the catwalk, Rey following closely behind. They lurched against the railing as the structure started to give; apparently it wasn’t designed to hold hundreds of bodies at once. The foundation began to creak, and Ben’s eyes widened at her before the floor gave way under them.

Rey released a yell as they plummeted. She couldn’t even see Ben beside her, as they were swallowed in darkness, but she could feel him vaguely in the Force once she broke through her panic.

_Put your hands out!_

So she did, and with a massive lurch in her chest and brain, she came to a stop, the glow of her lightsaber allowing her to see she was inches from the floor. She landed on her knees, placing her saber on the ground.

“Ben?” she called, her voice raspy. She didn’t hear a splat, so it was safe to assume he hadn’t perished.

His hands came around her upper arms in the gloomy lighting, and she jolted before she relaxed. Then her face twisted in worry, even though he could barely see it.

“Your hip-”

His mouth found hers, forceful and searing, but he pulled away before she could reciprocate or protest at the abruptness.

“That doesn’t matter,” he said, breathing heavily.

“You frightened me.”

“That would be a first then,” he replied, and his voice sounded like it held a small smile.

Both of them started as they were swarmed with a stark white light. Rey squinted upwards, cupping her hand around her eyes.

Their rescue had arrived.

 

\---

 

The base went wild when they returned with Hux. Tensions still lingered in the air following Ben and Rey’s engagement announcement, but the capture of one of the most high-ranking officials in the First Order, plus the dismantlement of a large First Order haven was a tremendous success. The council would be ecstatic.

Hux was placed in a high security cell until the council would try him. For all his barbs and snarky comments, he was dead silent as he was locked away.

Rey accompanied Ben to the medical ward, so he could receive bacta for his hip injury. Upon closer inspection, the wound wasn’t as bad as it had looked, but it could become infected if not treated properly. Once the med-droids had treated a shirtless Ben, they left to attend to other matters on the base.

“You shouldn’t have insisted on staying,” Rey said, nodding at his injury.

Ben regarded her coolly. “You’re saying you wouldn’t have done the same?”

“I didn’t say that.”

Ben reached out and wove his fingers through hers. “I know.”

Someone cleared their throat, and Rey and Ben broke their gaze, swiveling their heads to find Finn standing in the doorway.

Rey slipped her hand from Ben’s, noting how uncomfortable Finn appeared at just being there.

“Finn,” she said, approaching and enveloping him in a hug. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Yeah, same. I mean, I’m glad you’re okay too.”

Rey took a step back. “Did…did you want to see me?”

Finn’s eyes slid to Ben and then back to Rey. “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

Rey blinked. “Finn-”

Finn cleared his throat again, his mouth turned down in a frown. “It wasn’t any of my business…what I saw before, I mean.” He scratched the back of his neck. “I still don’t like it, or get it, or,” he shook his head, “it doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have shut you out.” He stared intently at her. “I’m sorry, Rey.”

She swallowed the emotion in her throat. “I forgive you.” She gave him another hug, burying her face in his neck.

When they stepped apart again, Rey swung wide, allowing a straight line of sight between Ben and Finn. The two regarded each other warily. Rey was starting to wonder if she would have to diffuse the tension again, but Finn came up to Ben and held out his hand. Rey’s eyes widened.

Finn held up his chin. “Truce?”

Ben regarded the offering with veiled surprise. His Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed heavily. He didn’t speak, but he brought up his hand and shook Finn’s stiffly. When the gesture was complete, Finn nodded curtly, and the glanced back at Rey.

“I’ll see you later.”

Rey nodded, a bit shocked from the whole encounter. “R-right. See you later.” When he left, Rey smiled at Ben. “This is…progress.”

Ben rolled his eyes.

Rey crossed the room just to elbow him.

 

\---

 

Rey didn’t see much of Finn or Poe for the next few days. Leia said they were on a mission, separate from the assignment. It was one they had decided to embark on together. Rey didn’t ask for details, thinking it wasn’t her business, especially if the excursion happened to be a romantic one, as she suspected.

She and Ben sparred nearly every day in the training room. His hip injury had almost entirely healed, but Rey observed he was more hesitant than he usually was in his attacks. They fought with staffs, for it wasn’t very fair for Rey to use her saber.

When they had had their fill of physical combat, they sank to the floor with their legs crossed. Rey ignored Ben as he gave her a sour look. Meditation had never been his strong suit, so this had been her idea.

“Honestly, I don’t know what bothers you so much about it,” Rey said, as she closed her eyes. “Just clear your mind and focus.”

Ben made some non-committal noise. “I’m not a Youngling.”

“Then stop acting like one.”

She heard him grumble something under his breath, but he must have heeded her advice, for she felt him brush against her mind like an old friend. With another measured breath, the floor fell out from underneath her.

She didn’t know quite what to expect, since she had never meditated with Ben like this before. When she opened her eyes, she was mildly surprised to see him standing next to her, as clearly as he was in the training room. They were on a cliff, overlooking a darkened bay of water and rocks. The sea pounded against the side, spraying mist up into the already foggy air. Rey squinted, making out the structure of some massive…well, she wasn’t quite sure what it was. A ship? A base? It was curved and silver, and looked like it could have been decades old.

She frowned as Ben’s eyes went wide, his gaze unblinking.

“Where are we?” she asked him.

He didn’t answer, but someone else did.

“The ruins of the first Death Star.”

Ben and Rey spun around rapidly. Luke Skywalker stood before them, but his beard was gone, and his hair was golden. He looked...younger, far younger than Rey had ever seen him in her usual meditative states.

Ben instinctually went for the blaster on his hip, but Rey’s hand shot out and dug into his forearm, glaring viciously. Ben returned her glare with just as much fire. Their staring contest was broken by Luke’s chuckling.

“Not everything changes, I see,” he said wryly.

“Did you take us here?” Ben demanded, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

Luke raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t take you anywhere. This is your doing. Your connection with one another continues to evolve and manifest in ways that I’m sure would have stunned the old Jedi Order.”

“You said we are at the ruins of the first Death Star,” Rey cut in, before Ben could snap something back. “What purpose would the Force have for leading us here?”

Luke shook his head. “Beats me.”

Ben gawked at his former mentor. “You’re still just a cryptic, old fool, even in death.”

“I’ve been called worse.” Luke surveyed his nephew, taking him in for the first time since Crait. “You still have the same sunny disposition I see.” He paused. “But you _have_ changed, Ben,” he added, more meaningfully. “You have a ways to go but…I’m proud you’ve found your path.”

Ben made a strangled noise in his throat, and then looked off to the side angrily. Rey and Luke exchanged an unamused look.

“We need to find this place,” Rey said out loud, glancing briefly over her shoulder at the broken Death Star. “I’m certain we’ll find answers here.”

“Or more questions,” Luke added mischievously.

The corner of Rey’s lips turned up. Last year, a comment like that would have made her go mad, but now she was used to such ambiguity. The Force worked in mysterious ways after all.

Luke’s image began to fade, and Ben turned his head to finally gaze at his uncle. The man watched him, a mixture of pride and sorrow on his face. Rey wondered if this was always how he would regard his nephew.

“Oh, and Rey,” he said, his eyes shining even as his image began to dissipate. “Welcome to the family.”

Both Ben and Rey jerked as they landed back in the training room, in their meditative positions. Rey noticed they had interlocked fingers while they were connected with the Force. Ben stared down at their hands, twisting them slightly.

A pair of soft footsteps approached them, and the couple looked up, retracting their hands as if waking from a dream.

“I hope I’m not interrupting,” Leia said, as the two rose to their feet.

Ben gave his mother a sullen look, but Rey shook her head. “Of course not.”

Leia’s lips thinned. “I came to share an important announcement with you. The council would like our base to hold an engagement party next week. It will promote good publicity…allegedly,” she added, with an air of distaste.

Rey groaned the same time Ben uttered, “Isn’t a wedding enough?”

A smile spread across Leia’s face. “You two always did strike me as romantics,” came her snarky reply.

For some reason this made Rey blush. “I just meant is such an occasion really necessary? The Knights of Ren are still at large, after all.”

“Apparently the council has been sated for now, given Admiral Hux’s recent capture. They would like to temporarily shift the focus to promoting intergalactic unity.”

“Of course,” Ben muttered.

“While I have no interest in inquiring into the…nature of your relationship, I should warn you both the council expects you to act in a certain way.”

Rey blanched. “What way would that be?”

Leia raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure I don’t have to go into details.”

“Please don’t,” Ben said sharply, although the tips of his ears were red.

Leia studied Ben’s face for a moment. “Would you mind giving Rey and I a moment to talk in private?” The way she said it did not make it seem like a request.

Ben opened his mouth, probably to protest at being ordered around by his mother, but Rey nodded to the door.

“It won’t take long,” she told him, verbally dismissing him.

Ben’s shoulders were wrought with tension as he exited the training room. Rey imagined his mother and her alone together didn’t give him a good feeling, especially if they were going to be talking about him. When he was out of earshot, Leia’s eyes met Rey’s, and the younger woman smiled nervously.

“I’m not going to ask any questions,” Leia told her, “but I do want to remind you General Dameron and I can speak on your behalf if you feel…trapped into this arrangement.”

“Honestly, I don’t know what to feel,” Rey replied, her shoulders dropping.

Leia took her hands. “Rey, you’ve given so much to the Resistance without expecting anything in return. You’ve done more than enough. I feel as though…this would be asking too much.”

Rey smiled softly. “You and Poe have both implied that this was not my war to fight. At first, I believed you. But now I see that it was. I made it that way, and I’m glad I did.” She ran her thumb over Leia’s hand. “You’ve given me a family to call my own. I would fight in a million wars for that. You’ve given me a home.”

Leia’s eyes became watery. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Rey swallowed again, also close to tears. “There is one thing that I would like to ask though,” she continued, remembering her and Ben’s conversation from the other night. “Something that I would like to happen before the engagement party.”

Leia regarded her curiously, but she lifted her chin in resolve. “Anything.”

“I would like to marry Ben on Naboo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are getting a little reverse Anakin and Padmé going here ;) Next chapter, a return to Naboo.


	15. Chapter 15

 

           They didn’t dress up.

There were no dresses, no stylists, no bouquets or string lights or crystal chandeliers. There was no food or wine, or presents or gawking nobles and stuffy council members.

There was just her and Ben underneath a green canopy, beside a stunning lake, dressed like they would have any other day. Finn, Poe, BB-8, Chewie, R2, C-P30 and Leia gathered at the edge of the stone dock, looking on with mixed expressions.

While Ben had not wanted a crowd, Rey reminded him Leia was the one who had made this possible. She had also promised Poe she would not be keeping secrets from them any longer, and this would have been a pretty colossal secret.

Leia had found a private minister for the ceremony. He talked in flowery language, which Rey thought was unnecessary, but then again she had never been to an actual wedding before now. She held hands with Ben as the minister read something called ‘vows,’ which again seemed overblown.

Tradition was tradition, she supposed.

When the last of the vows were read, Rey flinched as the minister threw some sort of grain on them, and she sent the man a bewildered look, ignoring Poe’s chuckle in the background. When she eyed Ben, she found his gaze was almost unnervingly serious; she could feel the intensity of his emotions through their bond.

The minister stared at them expectantly, so Rey blinked. “What happens now?”

“Now you may kiss your husband,” the minister said slowly, giving her an odd look.

_Husband._ “Oh.”

She hadn’t kissed Ben in front of anyone, and now she was expected to do it in front of her closest friends _and_ his mother? Perhaps Ben had been right in suggesting this. There was no way she could have done this in front of millions of strangers without first practicing on a smaller scale.

He could definitely sense her nerves through their connection, so she was grateful when he dipped his head, and gave her a chaste, unfeeling kiss, so as not to make her uncomfortable. In fact, he probably felt similarly. It must have been just as strange for him to participate in something so intimate in front of Leia, as well as others who barely tolerated him as it was.

His lips left hers, and then it was done. The others came closer, incredibly unsure of how to react.

“Uh, congratulations?” Finn half-asked, and then winced at his own tension.

Rey smiled. “You don’t have to do that.”

Finn sighed in relief. “Okay, great.”

“They really do grow up fast, don’t they, General?” Poe said, nodding to Leia. She gave him a bland look.

Chewie roared his own awkward congratulations and BB-8 and R2 beeped.

C-P30 waddled forward, bending slightly at the hip. “I do have to say, it is quite lovely to see Miss Rey and Master Ben wedded in this location. Why, I remember the nuptials of Master Anakin and Mistress Padmé some many years ago in this very spot.” He paused as everyone, including Leia, gawked at him. It must have occurred to him that this was not common knowledge, for he brought one chrome hand to his mouth. “Oh my, I feel as though I’ve said too much.”

R2 beeped in exasperation.

Chewie roared again, and Leia, after she had recovered from the revelation, turned to her old friend.

“You’re right Chewie, we can’t stay here for much longer without risking discovery. We should go to the _Falcon._ ” Leia hesitated, before surveying Rey and Ben. “If you require a period of privacy, I would be happy to arrange it once we are back on base,” she added neutrally.

Everyone looked mortified.

“That won’t be necessary,” Rey and Ben said at the same time, the latter with significantly more temper.

Leia nodded. “Very well.”

As she, Chewie and the droids, made their way back to the _Millennium Falcon_ , Finn and Poe lingered behind. Poe made a big show of clearing his throat.

“Well, I know this isn’t exactly a fairytale scenario, but Finn and I have something to show you,” he said, withdrawing a bag from his inner vest.

“Think of it as a sort of…wedding present,” Finn finished lamely.

“But more as a necessary precaution for our assignment,” Poe clarified as he tossed Ben the sack. The latter caught it, suspicion wracking his features.

“Is this what you two have been up to the past several days?” Rey inquired, as Ben opened the bag.

Poe nodded. “Now keep in mind Solo, this isn’t just for you. It’s so someone other than Rey can take all the laser fire next time we’re running within an inch of our lives…and judging by that weird Death Star Force vision she told us about, sounds like it’s going to be sooner than we think.”

Ben withdrew a silver hilt in one hand and a kyber crystal in the other. His eyes widened, and it appeared as though he was trying to keep his jaw from dropping.

“Don’t ask us how to assemble it,” Poe said. “It was difficult enough to find the damn thing.” He gestured to the crystal.

“Rose designed the hilt,” Finn mentioned proudly.

Ben turned both items over in his hands, still in shock.

“I think it goes without saying the council can’t know about this,” Poe said. “Not that you’d be running to tell them anytime soon.” He paused. “If it glows red though, I’m going to have to kill you.”

Ben snorted, the closest thing he would ever get to laughing at one of Poe’s jokes.

“Thank you,” Rey said on Ben’s behalf, because she knew he felt too strange to know what to say. “This means a lot.”

“You have no idea,” Ben muttered so quietly that Rey knew she was the only one who had heard it.

“Well, um, glad you like it,” Finn replied, scratching behind his head.

Ben tucked the items back into the sack and slung it around his shoulder. Rey smiled at him and then at her friends.

Poe gave her a charming grin. “Happy wedding day.”

 

\---

 

That night, once they were back on base, Rey snuck into Ben’s room the same way she normally did. She found him seated on the floor, his back to her as he tinkered with his new saber. Rey knew constructing-or reconstructing a saber in her case-could take weeks, but she had no doubt Ben would have it working any day now.

He must have been entirely immersed in his task, for his shoulders stiffened when she spoke. “How did you manage to get that past the guards?”

He placed the hilt and crystal back into the bag, and then rose to meet her. “I never took it out of the bag. Dameron took care of the rest.”

“I hope you thanked them properly,” Rey pressed, and when Ben stared uncomfortably at the floor she added, “I think they’re beyond hating you.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like them.”

“That doesn’t mean they have to like _you._ ” Rey shuffled her feet, remembering that the man standing in front of her was now her _husband._ “I didn’t know your grandparents were married on Naboo,” she said softly.

“Neither did I. Obviously.” He stared at her. “Why did you choose that place? Why choose Naboo at all?”

“I just…thought it was lovely.”

He was silent.

“What are you thinking?” she whispered.

He didn’t answer her, but he leant down and attached their lips, with far more passion than he had during their ceremony. She pressed into his body immediately, and she made a small noise when she discovered he was already achingly hard. He made to remove her tunic, but she stepped back, her eyes nervous.

“Wait. I want to…try something.”

He stared blankly at her until she sank to her knees. Rey watched as his eyes became dark. She kept the eye contact for a few more seconds before she looked at his pant line. She carefully hooked her fingers into the front and tugged them down, over his erection. She took him in her hand and placed her mouth delicately over his tip. He murmured instructions to her, probably guessing this was pushing beyond her knowledge.

After he told her what he liked, she did her best to replicate his instructions. Her lips curved as she took him almost entirely in her mouth, and her throat convulsed unexpectedly. She eventually figured out a rhythm that worked for her as well as him, and she found using her hand to tug down the base was the most effective.

Her cheeks became red as she felt his eyes on her, and she pulled back, her mouth sucking on his tip as she glanced up at him. His lips were parted and his cheeks were pink, his hands clenching and unclenching. He groaned quietly as her tongue licked just under his head, and it was then that she finally broke eye contact, finding it too much. His hand tangled in her hair as she moved, and even though her jaw became sore she picked up the pace, her mouth sliding against him in a wet heat.

He tensed, and then, “Rey…”

“Hm?” she asked, not bothering to stop her movements.

He looked down at her again. “Get up.”

She released him from her mouth. “What?”

“Get up, and bend over the bed.”

She blinked at him in shock, wondering if he was serious. Apparently he was. Normally, while she would have refused to take orders from him, there was a curiosity in his eyes that made her reconsider. She stood up slowly and then crossed over to his bunk. She placed her palms on his mattress, bending only slightly. He came up behind her, his warm hands sliding off the sleeves of her tunic. He sucked and kissed her bare shoulders, and then her back, and then to her surprise, her rear. Her clothes pooled at her feet as he came up, bringing his mouth to her ear as his hand glossed over her backside.

“I said bend over,” he murmured, and when she didn’t, he gave her rear a light smack.

Rey whipped her head around in shock, not realizing this was something people apparently did. She blinked several times in confusion and then pleasure as her clit throbbed from the contact, and wetness formed between her legs.

“Wha…?”

“Did you like that?” Ben murmured, rubbing his hand gently over the place he had hit. “Tell me.”

“Yes,” she breathed, and then moaned when his hand came around to touch her.

He cursed as he dipped a finger inside her. “You’re so wet,” he groaned, sliding another finger in and curving them.

“Ben,” she sighed, as he began to move quicker, plunging his fingers inside her over and over again. Her head lolled back against his shoulder, and she could feel his cock pressing into her back. His other hand came up to cup her breast as he kissed her shoulder, rolling her nipple between his fingers.

She shuddered, her flush traveling all the way down her neck. She barely registered his soft question to her, but she nodded, and then her back was on his bunk and he was holding her thighs.

He entered her easily this time, and they both released a soft moan at the smooth sensation. He thrust against her quickly, the veins on his neck pulsing in his controlled effort. His hand came down to circle her clit again.

“I love fucking you,” he breathed against her neck, and then with another shudder she came.

Her back arched off the bed, as she twisted her fingers in his hair. She gasped as her orgasm shook her entire body, and when she came down her chest was covered in a fine layer of sweat.

Ben thrust into her a few more times before he too was shuddering, his lips pressed against her neck as he rode out his own climax. When it was over, he lay against her for several moments, her hands brushing through his damp hair.

He twisted his face into her neck. “I’m glad you’re with me,” he murmured. And the way he said it was so fatigued and so broken, but so _relieved,_ that Rey had to swallow down a lump in her throat.

“Me too.”

 

\---

 

Rey awoke that night with his head between her legs. Her lips parted in a soft moan, as he ate her like a starved man, his fingers digging into her thighs. She came within minutes, crying out his name softly.

He took her hand and pulled her over him, and she sank onto his cock. He rose up to meet her, sucking on her chest as they bobbed together.

“What color lightsaber do you think you’ll have?” Rey asked.

Ben burst into a stunned and breathless laugh against her collarbone. “You’re asking that now?”

“It… _ah,_ it appears that way.”

“I don’t know,” he responded, tugging her head down for a kiss, his tongue swept into her mouth, plunging into her. “What…do you think?”

“It’s…difficult to…say,” she replied against his lips.

“Is that because I’m, ugnh, I’m fucking you?”

“I’m sure that has something to do with it.” Her eyes closed as his hands braced against her hips, pulling her harder against him.

“Happy honeymoon,” he said dryly, and she stilled against him. He pulled back. “Sorry.”

She shook her head. “It’s alright.”

But afterwards he laid her on her back again, and when he moved inside her it wasn’t like before. His kisses were slower, lazier, and when he made her cum again, it rolled over her like syrup.

They kissed a bit more, a tangle of limbs, until Ben rested his head on her chest. He was heavy, but in a good kind of way. He was massive, his arms covering practically every inch of her, his long hair tickling her neck and jaw. She waited until his breathing became sluggish and even. She waited until his limbs became even heavier. She waited until she felt his mind calm through the Force.

“I love you,” she told him, knowing he couldn’t hear her.


	16. Chapter 16

            Another camera flashed in her face, and Rey swore she went blind for a few seconds. She wobbled on the pedestal, her feet already aching. She had managed to come this far without having to wear heels, but apparently her luck had run out.

The dress she was made to wear was a long, red, sleeveless gown with a slit coming up the side of her leg, practically to her thigh. It was such an impractical style. Who would want to wear something with a tear already in it?

Ben tightened his grip on her hand as another camera flashed. He was equally as stiff, and Rey knew this wasn’t good, considering this was supposed to be their engagement party.

They probably looked more like prisoners than a couple madly in love.

Rey studied the dark tan robes that were his style for the evening. He really was handsome, and she knew he found her beautiful. Surely they should be able to seem attracted to one another in public?

She cleared her throat. “Turn like you’re talking to me,” she muttered, as more cameras flashed.

Ben raised an eyebrow, but he did as she requested. Rey caught a glimpse of Poe, Finn and Leia over Ben’s shoulder, a feat she knew she couldn’t accomplish without her added height. Poe gave her a thumbs up, and Finn smiled awkwardly. Leia sent her a small, encouraging nod.

Rey’s eyes flickered back to Ben as she took his hand. He seemed to understand her intentions, for at that moment he lifted a hand to brush a strand of hair from her shoulder. It was the first social event where Rey’s stylist insisted she wear her hair down, so the gesture was almost natural coming from Ben.

She inhaled as the camera flashes picked up, not wanting to miss the moment of intimacy between two former enemies.

“I’m going to kiss you,” he warned her softly.

She nodded tersely, her heart beating out of her chest.

He bent over and deposited a kiss on her mouth, his fingers threading with hers. Rey closed her eyes, and leaned into the kiss as she had done a million times, but her mouth was stiff and robotic. As soon as their lips connected the pair was flooded with clicks and flashes, and several people even gasped.

When they broke apart, Rey gave him a small smile. So far so good, but it was far from over.

It was going to be a long night.

 

\---

 

“Oh, you _must_ tell us how you fell in love. I want to hear it straight from the source!”

Rey tried not to visibly grimace at the noble woman’s question. She and Ben were currently seated at an elaborately carved dining table with practically enough food to feed a small civilization, but she didn’t dare eat with so many scrutinizing gazes. Leia had warned her beforehand of how nosy nobles could be, and now she realized she was witnessing it firsthand.

Rey glanced to Ben for help, but Stars knew _he_ wasn’t going to bail her out. The traitor. She turned back to the noble woman, a false smile plastered on her face.

“I can’t really remember. It just…happened I supposed.”

“Oh nonsense, you don’t have to be shy! I think it’s truly remarkable, why, it’s simply something out of a romance holo!” The woman batted her eyes and took a long sip of wine.

Rey was vaguely aware of the council’s eyes on her from across the room. They were watching their every move, which wasn’t the least bit shocking since this entire event had been their plan. A thin line of sweat formed along Rey’s hairline as she took a shaky sip of wine. The pressure was starting to get to her.

“If you don’t mind, my fiancée and I would like to keep some aspect of our romantic lives private,” Ben spoke up at last, and Rey breathed in relief.

The noble woman seemed highly disappointed, but she didn’t protest, perhaps sensing it really _wasn’t_ any of her business after all. Ben took a sip from his own drink, visibly pleased with his deflection.

Unfortunately not all the noble people got the message.

“When do you think you’ll have children?” A man with gaudy, golden jewelry inquired, and Ben choked on his wine.

As he coughed to clear his windpipes, Rey patted him on the back, her face bright red, and the fake smile back on her face. “We haven’t discussed it.”

The man clicked his tongue. “But why not? Sitting here before us is the last of the Skywalkers. Surely it would be a shame to let such an important family legacy die out?”

It actually had never occurred to Rey that Ben was the last of the Skywalkers. It seemed foolish, but she had never stopped to think about it, or what it would mean.

“Perhaps now isn’t the time for such…enlightening decisions,” she supplied, her ears perking as music filled the hall. She rose from her seat and grabbed Ben’s upper arm. “If you’ll excuse me, I would like to dance with my husband.”

“Don’t you mean your future husband?” another woman inquired.

Rey’s eyes widened, realizing her error. “Right, of course. Come on, _love,_ ” she said through half-gritted teeth when Ben was slow to rise. One subtly murderous glare from her, however, and he picked up the pace. They crossed the room together, in the direction of the dance floor.

His arms came around her. “You must really be desperate if this is what you’re resorting to.”

“I was,” Rey said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Couldn’t you tell?”

“It was fairly obvious.”

“Why, thank you.”

Ben’s eyes grew dark as he swept over her body. “If there weren’t so many witnesses, I would fuck you in that dress right now.”

Rey gaped. “Are you sloshed?”

A surprised chortle escaped him. “No. Don’t tell me, I can’t appreciate your body now?”

“Not when there are so many witnesses, as you’ve said.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I think you’re forgetting the point of this occasion.”

He pulled her closer to him, tilting his head so his cheek met the top of her temple. Rey was vaguely aware of a few cameras flashing, but she squeezed her eyes shut so she wouldn’t have to see all the faces staring at them. Her fingers dug into his shoulders. His scent, smoky and so utterly unique to him, wafted into her nostrils. Gradually, she let her head lie on his chest, and his heartbeat pounded steadily against her ear.

“Are people still staring?” she questioned, her eyes closed.

“What do you think?” he murmured, then paused. “More people are beginning to dance.”

“Good,” Rey breathed. At least with more bodies on the floor there would be some cover.

Ben angled his head so his lips touched against her ear. “I find it impressive that you’ve yet to step on my feet.”

“The night’s still young.”

His chest rumbled as he chuckled.

As the night pressed on, nearly everyone was getting drunker, save for Rey and Ben and a few others. Rey knew how important this party was, and seeing as it almost entirely focused on her, she didn’t feel right partaking in drink while the council was breathing down her neck. Ben supposedly felt the same, as did Finn, as did Leia. Poe…did not.  

At one point, Rey caught the pilot tugging Finn out onto an adjacent balcony, the doors shutting behind them. She shook her head, smiling at Poe’s antics. She sobered, however, when she noticed Ben trapped in deep conversation with a group of nobles. By the look on his face, he appeared to be almost sick. Rey frowned and immediately went over to rescue him.

“Mind if I borrow him for a moment?” Rey questioned, her hands latching onto his forearm.

One of the noblewomen moped. “Why, we were just having the most interesting conversation about bloodlines and parentage.” Rey’s eyes narrowed into a fierce glare, and the woman actually took a step back. “Then again, he _is_ your husband-to-be. We’ll just leave you to it.” The crowd of rich folk shuffled away.

Rey sighed. “Are you alright?”

Ben nodded curtly, giving her the impression he wasn’t. “I need some fresh air,” he mumbled, brushing past her, and then he was lost in the sea of the crowd.

Rey watched him go with a worried expression. A comforting hand squeezed her shoulder, and she rotated, knowing at once it was Leia. The older woman gave her a sad look.

“I’d like to think family is a difficult subject for him for the obvious reasons,” the General admitted, swallowing painfully. “But then again, I don’t know him as well as I thought I did.”

“You could know him again,” Rey told her.

Leia gave her a thin smile. “I don’t believe he cares to know me.”

Rey’s eyes became hard. “He does. I can feel it,” she said with determination. “He just…he’s still trying to piece things out.”

Leia nodded. “That’s all I can ask for.”

Rey took her hands. “I…I wish Han were here,” she whispered.

Leia’s sad expression morphed as some memory Rey couldn’t see passed through her eyes. “Trust me. Given the choice, Han would rather stay where he is than come to something like this.” The wry smile was back.

Rey’s lips curved up into a hesitant grin. “I think you might be right.” 

Several minutes later, as Rey finished making the appropriate rounds with various stuffy nobles, she found herself by the horduerves table. She had been so busy mingling she hadn’t realized how hungry she had become. She chose the meatiest thing she could find, not particularly caring if a camera managed to catch her in a messy eating moment.

As she took a massive bite of some sort of venison-based delicacy, she noticed Ben stepping out onto the balcony, and then reemerging just as quickly. He came over to Rey, his face deathly pale. She swallowed her horduerve, and regarded him with concern.

“Is everything alright?” she questioned hesitantly.

Ben grunted, avoiding her eye contact.

It took Rey all of three seconds to recognize his strange behavior had nothing to do with his interaction with the noblewoman. Her eyes darted to the balcony and then back to Ben, and her eyes widened with realization as she remembered Poe and Finn’s discreet exit.

She exploded with laughter, her outburst turning more than a couple of heads. Ben flushed a bright red, and Rey snorted, before turning back to the food table to shield her face from observers.

“Well, it really isn’t either of our businesses,” she inferred, reaching for another horduerve.

“No. It isn’t,” he said, his voice so strained she was surprised his vocal chords didn’t snap. She covered her mouth to stifle more laughter before stuffing another food sample in her mouth. Ben watched her with mild disgust. “Your manners are truly abysmal.”

Rey shrugged, finding the longer she had to endure this party, the more she didn’t care what people thought. “You married into this,” she spoke with her mouth full.

His eyes became strange. “So I did.”

 

\---

 

When the engagement party was decidedly over, Rey bolted back to her room and removed her heels as quickly as she could. Her feet were absolutely throbbing, and she hissed as the front of her toes accidently brushed against her carpet. She used the Force to toss the torturous shoes back into the closet, feeling satisfied when she heard one of the heels snap from the impact.

She reached up behind her, attempting to unzip the dress, but she ended up rotating in a circle as she struggled to see her back.

“If only you could see how you look right now.”

Rey whipped around, nearly falling from the movement. Ben leaned casually against the windowsill, his arms crossed and the breeze ruffling his hair. He had already traded his dress robes in favor for his regular olive uniform.

She gawked at him. “Did you…did you honestly _climb_ _in_ through the window?”

He shrugged. “Too many people lingering in the corridors.” He stood and moved behind her, his hand on her upper back. “Let me.”

Rey held the front of her dress as he unzipped her down to her tailbone. She had forgone a bra, for the one that had been provided for her poked her flesh.

“Let go,” Ben told her, “or have you forgotten I’ve seen you before?”

“I want to talk to you about something.” She clutched her dress tightly to her, staring out the window.

“…Okay,” he replied warily.

Rey shuffled to her closet, selecting the drabbest thing she could find-an off-white nightgown-and exchanged her silky red dress for the plainer attire. When she was properly covered, she rested lightly against her closet door.

“It’s about your family,” she explained. His eyes instantly hardened, but he didn’t offer a comment, so she took this as a cue to continue. “We said we would discuss this at a time where-”

“Correction. _You_ said we would discuss this.”

“Well, now we’re discussing it,” she replied with irritation. She took a deep breath. “I noticed how you were…uncomfortable with the topic of your family legacy and the…the pressures to continue it.”

Ben stared at her. “Don’t tell me you want children now.”

Rey spluttered. “No! That’s not what I’m saying. I just don’t think you should run from your family, and they _are_ your family, Ben,” she added when he seemed about to interrupt. “You can’t let this part of your past the die. No one ever really goes away.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he snapped.

Rey’s fuse blew. “I know _you!_ Stop running from this. It’s _over._ You’ve made your decisions, and now you have to accept the consequences, but that doesn’t mean you can forget the people who tried to help you, even if they failed you!” She came up to him and grabbed his face between her hands. “Your mother loves you. _Luke_ loved you. _Han_ loved you.” He flinched under her fingertips at the mention of his late father. “I know you don’t hate him. You never did. You’ve told me so yourself.” Her eyes pricked with angry tears. “So why can’t you be honest? You can’t pick the family you’re born with, I know that better than anyone, but they’ve always been ready to welcome you back. So go to them.”

He glared fiercely at her, but his bottom lip quivered, and there was moisture in the corner of his eyes. She could sense he didn’t want her to see him like this, so she granted him mercy by tugging his face down into the crease of her neck. He shuddered, and then his arms came around her, squeezing almost painfully. She ran her fingers through his hair, her own tears sluggishly leaking out of her eyes.

When his mind brushed against hers again, it was the most peaceful it had ever been.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some people think the Death Star was the first one, in the teaser, and some think it’s the second. I’m actually not sure which one it is. If it has Palpatine’s ghost it’s probably the second one, but we are going with the first one in this story.

             Rey waited patiently outside the briefing room, her fingers tapping anxiously against her elbow. She could feel the flux of Ben’s emotions on the other side of the door, accompanied by the occasional yell.

That was expected given this was the first, honest conversation he’d had with his mother in years.

Rey couldn’t hear the details, nor did she want to. While it had been her suggestion for Ben to finally speak to his mother, to _really_ speak to her, she could tell there was a part of him that also longed for a genuine emotional connection.

He already had her love, even if she hadn’t directly told him. He had it, but he also needed love of a different kind.

She waited there for what felt like hours, but she didn’t dare leave in case either Ben or Leia needed her. She was just beginning to nod off while standing when the door whooshed open beside her.

Rey straightened at once, and Leia and Ben exited one at a time. Ben came out first, his emotions so entirely jumbled that Rey couldn’t sort them out. When he eyed her, he went straight for her with such intensity that she took a step back. He gripped her upper arms and kissed her fiercely, pointedly, and Rey was too shocked to reciprocate. He released her in the next moment, storming down the hallway without looking at either Rey or his mother.

Rey looked to Leia in bewilderment, her face a bright pink.

“Did it…not go well?” she asked weakly, dread pooling in her stomach.

Leia gave her a watery smile. “Actually, I think it went the best it could have gone.” She smiled wider, taking Rey’s hand. “Thank you.”

She said it with such feeling that Rey was taken aback. She needed to inquire Ben about the details later. Right now though, Leia needed her support, and she wound her arms around the older woman, holding her tight.

“You’re welcome.”

 

\---

 

The next stop on their journey was to a place Rey never thought she would visit again: Takodana. It wasn’t as though she had any unpleasant memories of the location, other than her jarring visions when coming across Luke’s lightsaber for the first time, but she had never imagined a return visit. Poe insisted that this was a logical place to visit, for he knew the perfect person to decipher the strange vision Rey and Ben had had of the Death Star.

Maz.

After the _Falcon_ had landed, the group wasted little time in locating the tavern where the orange alien frequented. Sure enough, as soon as they entered they spotted her as she won a significant number of credits from her opponent. She tossed her cards at her foe with a laugh, collecting her earned money.

Her smile dissipated as she met Rey’s eyes, and she cocked her head to the side with a smirk. Rey gulped. She knew Maz could be the key to locating the Death Star, but she also knew the woman had a knack for seeing right through to people. And Rey didn’t particularly feel like getting examined.

After Maz ran her eyes over their group, she simply waved her hand, and they followed her to a more secluded location. Rey’s blood ran cold as she led them down a spiral staircase, the same one she had wandered down when she had sensed the saber’s presence. She clutched the weapon by her hip in memory.

“So,” Maz said casually, when they were out of earshot of the regular patrons, “I didn’t think you’d ever visit me again Dameron, nor you Stormtrooper.” She nodded at Finn. “I see you’ve quit running.”

“More or less,” Finn grumbled, reddening.

Maz’s eyes scrutinized Rey. “And you, you’ve recognized your power. Good. Perhaps you won’t run this time as well?”

Rey winced, recalling how she had sprinted into the forest in fear after her vision. “I’ve learned a great deal since I’ve been here last.”

“I expect nothing less,” Maz nodded in affirmation. Her gaze then swiveled to Ben, and her expression morphed into something Rey could not decipher.

“And you, Ben Solo. I never thought I would see you here.”

“Here I am,” Ben replied curtly, looking as though he didn’t appreciate her intense gaze.

“Hmm,” Maz said, placing her goggles over her eyes. “Yes, you’ve changed. No longer the sadist that caused common folk to flee, yet there’s something within you that battles against your consciousness. Perhaps it’s your desire to win back your family.” Maz paused. “Or perhaps it’s the love you feel for your former enemy.”

Finn spluttered the same instant Poe snorted, and BB-8 beeped indignantly. Rey gawked at the orange woman while Ben’s face remained impassive, but his ears turned a violent red.

“Maz, we appreciate the analysis, but we actually came here to discuss something specific,” Poe cut in, before she could something else that was mortifying.

Maz removed her goggles. “I’m listening.”

“What do you know about the whereabouts of the first Death Star?” Rey questioned, finding her voice despite her earlier embarrassment.

Maz smiled. “Ah, so you’re looking to dig up old ruins are you? Well, the answers aren’t so clear cut, but I _may_ be able to help out some old friends…”

 

\---

 

Rey could have done a jig after they had gathered the information they needed. Maz told them of a few places notorious for hosting old ruins from the First Galactic War. While it wasn’t an exact science, the knowledge still led them one step closer to potentially finding the remaining Knights of Ren.

“We’ll head back to base and then start searching these locations after the wedding ceremony,” Poe informed them as they trekked through the Takodana forest. “The ‘real’ wedding ceremony, I mean.”

Right. The ceremony was coming up sooner than Rey had thought. She had almost completely cast it from her mind. She and Ben were technically already married after all, so what was the point in keeping track of some fake ceremony?

“Chewie needs to refuel, so it looks like we’re camping out for the night,” Poe added, glancing around at the greenery.

“We should make a fire before it darkens,” Rey suggested, her survival instincts kicking in.

“Good idea. Finn, any chance you’d want to gather some firewood with me?”

Finn glanced briefly at Rey and Ben and then back at Poe. “Definitely.”

Rey stifled a smile as the pair merged deeper into the forest, BB-8 choosing to linger behind rather than join them. Rey leaned against a tree as Ben sat cross-legged on the floor, removing the small sack that contained his saber pieces.

“How close do you think you are?” Rey inquired, as she watched him tinker with the parts.

“Very,” he replied gruffly, his focus entirely on his saber.

Rey figured he wasn’t going to be an active participant in the conversation, so she sunk to the ground, choosing instead to interact with BB-8 while Ben worked. Eventually the droid rolled off to find Poe, and Rey was left with an inching question.

“How did your talk with Leia go?” She scuffed at the ground with her boot, trying to seem disinterested.

He sighed, pausing in his fiddling. “How do _you_ think it went?”

“Well, I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.” Rey crossed her arms. “I couldn’t make sense of anything you were feeling and when you left…” Her cheeks tinged pink as she remembered his searing kiss. “Why did you do that?”

“…My mother wanted to ensure the nature of our relationship was genuine. I was making a point.” His eyebrows furrowed. “She hasn’t accepted me,” he muttered, more to himself than to Rey.

“That’s not true,” Rey said softly, moving to cup his face. “You have to believe me.” She swallowed shakily. “It isn’t going to be easy,” she admitted, “but is anything ever?”

He carefully removed her hands. Rey was about to question him when he brought his saber out in between them. He made one slight adjustment and then his fingers glossed over the hilt.

Rey could sense his anxiety through their bond, and her eyes widened as she recognized what was happening. The saber was finished, and now he was about to ignite it for the first time. She could feel his anticipation at having a new weapon, but his fear pounded against her senses. He was afraid it would bleed.

“It’s okay,” she told him softly. “Whatever happens, it will be okay.”

He nodded rigidly, his eyes never leaving the hilt. He took one more shuddering breath and then he ignited it.

And they were bathed in a deep blue.

The color was darker, more electric than Rey’s saber, but it pulsed strongly. It was stable, far more stable than his old weapon. They stared at it together, their faces reflecting its glow. Rey watched, mesmerized as he turned it over in his hands.

Ben extinguished the blade and placed the weapon on the dirt ground. He bent over then, burying his face in his hands, and his shoulders shook.

At first Rey was taken aback by such a reaction, but then she understood as his emotions rolled over her like a tidal wave. It was a vicious mixture, but there was one sense that overwhelmed the rest. Relief.

By the time the others had come back to the campsite, Ben had gathered himself and had tangled his hand with Rey’s. He was unfazed by Poe and Finn’s lingering gazes, and he even moved closer to her when they got the fire going.

The team discussed the various locations Maz had given them, narrowing down a couple that seemed like the safest bets. They wouldn’t be able to start looking until after Ben and Rey’s wedding, which would be held at the galaxy’s capital.

As their talk veered to the upcoming ceremony, the conversation became lighter.

“I can’t help but notice how you two have come full circle,” Poe mused, crossing one of his legs over Finn’s. He used his pointer finger to gesture back and forth between Rey and Ben.

“What are you talking about, Dameron?” Ben asked blandly.

Poe raised an eyebrow. “Why, wasn’t it these very forests on Takodana where you first met?”

“Huh,” Finn said, scratching his head. “I forgot about that.”

“It…feels so long ago,” Rey offered, her thumb subconsciously brushing over Ben’s hand.

Poe grinned mischievously. “Technically, Rey and I could form a club. All who have ever been tortured by Kylo Ren, apply here.”

Rey and Ben gave him unamused looks while Finn elbowed Poe in the ribs.

“Ow! Damn, tough crowd.”

BB-8 beeped in agreement.

As the night pressed on, everyone began to settle down to sleep. Rey dozed off, the slight hum of the fire providing the perfect white noise. She was in the state between wakefulness and slumber when Ben’s thoughts slammed back into her consciousness, and she jolted.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

“What’s wrong?” she questioned, careful to keep her voice low so as not to wake the others.

He didn’t answer right away, so she tried something else.

_Is it about your saber?_

_Partly._

_About Leia?_

_Partly._

Rey frowned. _If you don’t want to talk then-_

_It’s about what that orange bag said._

_Maz?_ Realization dawned on Rey and her heart picked up. _Oh…_

_Just forget about it._

_Ben…_

_I said_ forget  _about it._

He rolled away from her, away from the fire. Rey stared at his back, a massive wall of cloth and flesh. She bit her lip as she turned something over in her mind.

Apparently now _her_ thoughts were too loud, for he shifted back onto his side to face her, his eyes narrowed. “What?”

Rey couldn’t decide on what to say, so she craned her neck and lightly touched her lips to his. He tasted like the portion of wheat they had had for dinner. He was still against her mouth until the tip of her tongue flitted out to touch his bottom lip. After that, he pressed back, his hand coming up to cup her jaw.

Rey pulled back before things could get too heated. Her friends were across the fire from them, and besides, she wasn’t finished talking.

“Ben,” she said, and he blinked at her. “Don’t be afraid.”

He watched her carefully, confusion written all over his face. She didn’t blame him for being confused. She was doing all she could to block her emotions from him. Her heart hammered so violently in her chest she was surprised he didn’t comment on it. Her fingers twirled into his, and her eyes flickered down to his neck, no longer able to maintain eye contact.

“I love you,” she breathed, half hoping he hadn’t heard. She kept her eyes on his neck, then moved up his chin, his mouth his nose, and finally his eyes. To her shock he looked like he was in pain.

He closed his eyes. “You shouldn’t say that.”

“Well, tough,” she replied, feeling braver now that it was all on the table.

He brought his arms out and pulled her in tight, his nose brushing against his shoulder. “Rey. You don’t know what you’ve just done.”

She cupped her hand over his shoulder, feeling his heart beat pound just as quickly.

“I think I do.”


	18. Chapter 18

            Rey stared at the stranger in the mirror.

She was elegant and mystical, lily-white lace curving around her arms and torso, fanning out into an A-line. Her hair was pinned up in three connecting buns, but one whisp of curled hair framed either side of her face. Her eyes were darkened with powder, her cheeks a rosy red. Her lashes stood out from her face, brown and elongated.

The front of her gown fell in a V, far lower than she would have liked. Her hand fell to her saber, displayed proudly on her waist. She stared at the matching pair of white heels by her desk, and then used the Force to toss them aside. She grabbed her booties and slipped one onto each foot instead.

There came a knock at her door. “Miss are you ready?”

Rey looked at her reflection once more. She took a deep breath.

“Yes, I am.”

She wasn’t nervous. Why wasn’t she nervous? Her boots echoed against the stone hallway, as some twitchy assistant held the train of her dress. She could hear the sounds of music echoing inside the main chamber, the place where thousands of eyes would be watching her, not even including the billions watching from a screen at home.

Everyone was already inside. _Ben_ was inside, at the end of the altar. Rey braced herself as the doors opened, but even as she passed into the room she wasn’t nervous. She could do this.

She walked herself down the aisle. Poe and Finn and even Leia and Chewie had offered to give her away, but Rey opted to go alone. It grounded her, reminded her of her origins.

Tremendous waves of creaks and lurches echoed around the hall as thousands of bodies stood from their seats, turning to watch the bride. Rey kept her eyes ahead, and she finally found him.

It was the first time she had seen him wear black since the war. The robes he wore now were finer, woven from the most delicate silk, but they were black as night. They reminded her of Kylo Ren, and perhaps that was the point. This entire ceremony was to showcase how far they had come.

Only when she stood beside him did everyone sit, and then it was a matter of going through the motions. The ceremony itself was much longer than the one on Naboo, and Rey had to keep her focus throughout its duration. Too often she found herself studying how handsome Ben looked in his robes, and how good she imagined he would look out of them.

When Ben began leaning towards her, Rey was jolted from her thoughts, realizing the ceremony must have concluded. Their lips met softly, and there was a beat of silence before thunderous applause and cheers tore through the ceiling.

The reception was rather torturous, if she were being honest. She and Ben spent over an hour shaking hands with nobles and being ‘in love’ for their benefit. Every now and then Rey would catch the council scanning their eyes over the pair, and her false smile grew to compensate.

There were so many people she couldn’t find any of her friends. At one point she thought she recognized the top of Chewie’s mane, but even then she was only half sure it was him. She let out a quite groan as another group of senators approached them.

“Keep it together,” Ben whispered to her. “We’re almost through.”

“You say that now,” she retorted, but she kept her eyes bright as she extended her hand.

After another hour, Ben took her by the hand and pulled her into a secluded smoke room, locking the door behind them. Rey waved a hand in front of her face, her nose curling from the after-scent of pipes.

“What are we doing here?” she demanded.

He smirked. “I thought you could use a minute.” When Rey raised an eyebrow he sighed in irritation. “I could too.”

Rey crossed her arms. “Won’t they notice our absence?”

“Dinner and drinks are being served. They’ll have the finest delicacies to complain over for at least the coming hour.”

She chuckled. “Fair enough.”

Ben’s eyes swept over her body, and he pulled her against him, his nose dipping to her jaw. “You’re so beautiful,” he growled, then began to kiss her neck.

Rey sighed against him, well aware his hands were beginning to hike up her dress. She laughed as he swore against her skin, struggling to move the bundles of fabric over her thighs.

“Here,” she said, lying down on a futon of sorts.

She expected him to climb over her, but he dove into her skirts head first, peeling back her panties and sucking on her clit fiercely. Rey’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as she moaned in pleasure, her hips bobbing with his mouth. It didn’t take long until she was soaking her dress, and Ben took the opportunity to move up her body. He fumbled with his waistband as he bent over to kiss her, his tongue hot and probing.

Rey cried out when he moved inside her, thrusting all the way to the hilt. She felt something poking her side, and she gazed at Ben curiously.

“Sorry,” he panted, adjusting his own saber from the confined of his shirt. “Can’t be…too careful.”

Rey nodded, closing her eyes and sighing as she climbed higher. Ben grabbed the backs of her thighs, hiking her legs upwards so he could plunge into her. He began hitting that spot inside her, over and over and over again.

“How does it feel?” he grunted, tugging on bottom lip with his teeth. “Do you like getting fucked by your husband?”

“ _Yes_ , _oh, oh, Ben…”_

And then she was shuddering, clenching around him and crying out. He came several moments later, whispering her name against her mouth.

He lay inside her after they had finished, both breathing heavily.

“I think…we’ve been gone for more than…a few minutes,” Rey panted, catching her breath.

“Mm-hm,” Ben replied, removing himself. He watched her eyes as his hand found her clit again, and Rey gasped from the sensitivity.

“Ben, we have to-”

“I’m going to make you come again before we go.”

How could she possibly refuse?

 

\---

 

“Where have you two been?” Leia demanded when Rey and Ben finally located the rest of the group. The General took in Ben’s messy hair and Rey’s flushed state and she shook her head. “Spare me the details,” she decided.

Ben gave her a half-hearted glare, but he didn’t make any outbursts, as he would have a few weeks ago. Instead he took Rey’s hand, twisting it in his own.

“You ready for your first dance?” Finn asked them, grinning.

Rey paled. “No.”

“You’ll do great!” Poe said, clapping Rey, and then Ben on the shoulder. Ben glowered at him, and the pilot held his hands up in surrender. “Learn how to take a compliment why don’t you?”

“Come on, the sooner we get this over with the better,” Rey mumbled, taking Ben by the arm and leading him to the center of the room. The music drifted through the air, and Rey’s skin crawled as eyes upon eyes glided over them. “Any chance I can step on your feet?”

“I don’t feel like getting my feet impaled, thanks.”

“I’m not wearing heels,” she reminded him.

“Right.” He paused. “Maybe it would be better for the both of us if you did.”

“My thoughts exactly.” She grinned as she moved onto his feet, turning her head so it pressed against his chest. She felt the hilt of his hidden saber touch her shoulder through his robes, and she smiled.

He hesitated before he rested his cheek on the top of her head. The music was slow and the lights were dim enough that Rey couldn’t see many of the faces staring at them. It was almost like they were the only people. Almost.

“I love you,” he murmured into her hair, and she pulled back, staring intently up at him.

“Ben,” she said, her eyes soft, “I love you t-”

Screams exploded all around them, and then four, red blades manifested out of nowhere. Rey and Ben sprung apart, both whipping out their sabers and igniting them on instinct. People all around them began to fall as blaster fire surged into the open space, cutting through bodies wherever it went. Rey’s mind tensed as four overwhelming signatures churned in her brain.

_The Knights._

And apparently they had rounded up a good deal of followers as well. Rey recognized the whites of the Stormtrooper uniforms, dozens of them taking out anyone within plain sight.

“We have to find the others!” Rey shouted over the chaos, and she and Ben pushed through the crowd, people running every which way.

Rey almost collapsed over a body, and when she regained her balance she realized it was the corpse of the Twi’lek councilwoman. She swallowed down the vomit that threatened to escape her mouth.

“This way!” Ben roared and he tugged her arm toward an exit, deflecting blaster fire as he went.

“No! We have to find the others!”

“Rey-”

“I’m not leaving without them!”

Her scream was enough to make him stop, and he released her hold on his arm. “Alright,” he said, finally nodding in resolution. “Alright.”

Rey took a deep breath, feeling the Force churn in her despite the disarray around them. “Follow me.”

They moved through the crowd, searching for the others. Ben mercilessly sliced through a Stormtrooper, picking up his discarded blaster without a second thought. Rey spun abruptly as she sensed a signature behind her, and with a yell her blade clashed with one of the Knights.

He fought with a viciousness she had not seen on the _Finalizer._ Anger and bloodlust poured from every swing, and Rey knew if she wasn’t quick enough, she could easily lose a limb.

She ducked swiftly as his saber sliced through a marble column, causing it to topple over and crack the floor. It was extremely difficult to move in her wedding dress, but she managed; it was either that, or be decapitated. She raised her saber just in time to deflect the Knight’s blow. They were held in a gridlock, Rey’s teeth gritting with effort. She could break this. She was strong enough. She just needed a bit more…

But then the Knight turned and swung under her blade, and he just…ran. Rey watched in bewilderment as he barreled through the crowd, using the Force to know them aside like cards. She gazed around wildly, discovering the remaining Knights and the Stormtroopers were all retreating, mowing down people unfortunate enough to get in their way.

Rey jerked when a hand closed around her arm, but she sensed Ben a moment later.

“The others,” he panted, the side of his face bleeding, “we have to go!”

Rey nodded dumbly, too disoriented to do anything but run. The pair stumbled out into the corridor, among the torrents of screaming nobles.

“REY!”

Finn grasped her arms and held her tight. “Thanks Stars, you’re alright!”

“The Knights are escaping,” Poe said, cutting off the reunion. “We have to go, now!”

“Dameron,” Leia said, emerging beside them. “I don’t know if-”

“Forgive me General, but I’ve got a feeling. This could be our only opportunity to catch the Knights, given what we know.”

Leia stared hard at her comrade, and then nodded. “I trust your judgment.”

Poe turned to the others, his eyes sweeping over them urgently. “Chewie’s got the _Falcon_ ready. Now’s our chance. Are you in?” His eyes scanned over all of them, but Rey had the feeling the question was aimed mostly at Ben.

“We’re wasting time,” Ben cut in, his fingers wrapping around the hilt of his saber. “Let’s move.”

Poe nodded. He turned to give Leia’s shoulder a squeeze before sprinting down the corridor, Finn and BB-8 in tow. Rey and Ben cast a look at Leia before following after the rest of the group; the sounds of screams and the stench of burnt flesh still hung in the air.

 

\---

 

 

“Keep on their trail Chewie,” Poe encouraged, just as Rey emerged from a side room in more appropriate fighting attire. Her wedding dress lay in a singed, torn heap on the ground.

The others had changed on board as well, and now everyone was focused on the fleeing craft in front of them until-

Poe swore as the vessel jumped to light speed. The entire _Falcon_ reverberated from the force of the escape. Chewie eased on the controls and the _Falcon_ slowed to a stop.

“Now what are we supposed to do? It’s not like we can track them from light speed,” Finn said, wiping a hand over his forehead.

BB-8 beeped and Chewie roared.

“We still have Maz’s coordinates,” Rey reminded him.

Poe shook his head. “We don’t have enough information to narrow them down yet. They could be hiding on any one of these-”

“Look,” Ben said, pointing at the control panel in front of them. Everyone swiveled to face him, confused. He moved forward, tracing a hand along the screen. “The _Falcon’s_ sustained minor damage from the jump, on the left flank.” He examined the screen. “It arches.”

Poe furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t see how-”

“The trajectory bends around the moons of Yavin,” Rey realized. “Ben, you’re…you’re a genius.”

Chewie roared giving something close to an impressed look at his best friend’s son.

“So that narrows it down this location,” Poe said, his voice becoming more excited as he pulled up Maz’s coordinates in front of him. “In the Dagobah system.”

BB-8 beeped in enthusiasm.

“Chewie, you know what to do.”

The Wookiee gave the pilot a firm nod and then plugged in the new coordinates at the same time Poe sent a com signal to the rest of the New Republic.

Rey gripped her saber tightly, giving a strained smile to Finn as he held her shoulder. Ben came up behind her, his fingers curling around his own weapon. He did well to keep his face impassive, but Rey could sense his anticipation as well as his anxiety.

“This is it,” Finn said, as the _Millennium Falcon_ lurched into light speed.

Rey took a deep breath; so it was.

 

\---

 

The team emerged from the _Falcon_ on a large, grassy hill. The wind rustled their clothing and Rey smelled salt on the horizon. They trekked up the hill, the long grass scraping against their legs. All the while a buzzing filled Rey’s brain, and she could sense…something.

“Do you feel that?” she asked Ben, and he gave her a firm nod.

“Mind giving us some details?” Poe questioned, cutting in on their moment.

Rey turned her head. “We’re close. It’s this way.”

They veered to the right, continuing to climb the hill until they came over the top. Rey’s breath caught in her throat.

There it was. The remains of the first Death Star. It arched from the gray sea like a crescent moon, the clouds circling overhead. The wind picked up and the waves crashed onto the rock below, the foam surging into the sky. If Rey concentrated she could feel the presence of the Knights, lurking within the depths of the ruin.

“Stars,” Finn breathed in disbelief, as the rest of them took in the sight.

Poe paused. “Maybe we should wait for the rest of the New Republic.”

Ben moved forward. “You can wait. I’m going in.”

“Ben,” Rey said grasping onto his arm.

He turned to look at her. “I’m _going._ There’s something else in there. Something dark. Can’t you feel it?”

She did. With each passing second it blossomed more fully in her mind. There was something in there that was waiting for them, bigger than the Knights, bigger than themselves.

“I feel it too,” Ben continued, withdrawing his saber. “I’m going in.”

“Then I’m going too,” she announced, and she could tell Ben was pleased.

“Rey,” Finn protested, “This is a bad idea. We should just wait.”

Chewie roared in agreement.

“I’m all for spontaneity,” Poe added, “but this time I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“That’s because neither of you are Force sensitive,” Ben argued. “You can’t feel what we feel.”

“If you want to go in and get yourself killed Solo, then have at it!”

“Enough!” Rey said. “We’re going in. I don’t expect you to join us. Ben’s right.” She looked at her husband. “Something’s calling to us…”

“Well if you’re going in, I’m going in,” Finn announced.

Chewie roared and BB-8 beeped.

“Well kriff it, let’s go,” Poe said throwing his arms in the air in defeat. He gripped his blaster and nodded to Ben. “After you.”


	19. Chapter 19

            Although only a chunk of the Death Star was visible, the inside of the fallen base was enormous. Rey could only imagine how magnificent and foreboding the entire thing had been back in its prime.

Parts of the floor and walls were rusted and weathered from age and the elements. Some sections of the ground were less stable than others, and the team made sure to watch their step as they moved. The base was almost entirely dark, for the electrical wiring had blown long ago. The only source of light came from the blue and white glow of Rey and Ben’s lightsabers.

They traveled silently, their footsteps and the gentle hum of their blades providing the only noise. Rey and Ben followed the Force signatures, all the while the strange presence in their minds beat all around them.

They came to a room that was so large, it must have been the main hall. As they slowed to a stop, glancing around, Rey’s skin prickled when a laugh echoed in her mind.

_What’s happening?_ Rey questioned through their bond. _I don’t understand._

Ben’s eyes grew wide with horror. _Rey-_

Rey fell to her knees as the pressure in her mind burst and her vision went dark. Her saber fell with a clatter, and she pressed her hands to her ears in a futile attempt to block out the presence. She felt Ben collapse beside her, and she was vaguely aware of her friends calling her name, but she couldn’t respond, couldn’t reach them.

_The last Jedi and the Jedi killer._

Rey screamed as the presence, so dark and cold, beat against her mind, clenching her brain in its fist. She was pulled from the room, collapsing against marble flooring that was far different from the place where she just was. Ben gasped beside her, bent over and sweating.

Their eyes met in terror.

“It’s him,” Ben gasped.

“ _Who?!”_

She didn’t have to wait long to find her answer. Her head was jerked up and her eyes came into contact with a figure in robes, his head and most of his face concealed with darkened cloth. What she could see was skin of the chin and neck, creamy and blotted and deformed. The head rose and her eyes became transfixed on unfeeling golden eyes.

“Rey,” he rasped, and her entire body broke out in gooseflesh. “You’ve found me at last.”

She knew who he was then. His form, this vision of him, was no different from how she had seen Luke, but his signature was stronger, more powerful, more violent.

“You’re the Emperor,” she gasped, her body racking with uncontrollable tremors.

A delighted smile crossed the Emperor’s face. “Indeed I am. I was beginning to think we’d never meet. And you, young Solo, how far you’ve come, yet still _you_ were the one who was drawn to me the most…so perhaps, you have not come far at all?”

Ben’s face morphed into a mixture of pain, disappointment and fury.

“Release us now,” Rey commanded, trying to stand but finding it impossible.

The Emperor cocked his head to the side. “But why would I do that? You’ve only just arrived.” He stepped closer, his robes swirling around him like a dark cloud. “Two halves, one who rejected the Light,” he glanced at Ben, “and the other who was born from it.” His eyes ran over Rey.

His hand came up then and both were hauled to their feet, their necks extended painfully. His golden eyes darted back and forth between his two prisoners, a contemplative expression on his face.

“Two lives so intertwined. Light and darkness together, what a truly remarkable thing!” He grinned jovially. “I wonder what would happen if the Light was say…snuffed out?”

He extended a finger to touch Rey’s forehead and everything went blue as shocks ricocheted down her body. She heard Ben calling her name, but all she could see and feel was _pain._ The electricity burned her soul, singed her skin.

In her mind Ben struggled against the hold and failed miserably. Her ears rang with the Emperor’s high, unrestrained laughter.

“Watch Ren, as the last of your Light dies! You’ve known, you’ve always known! At last your pull will be severed! At last you can fully give yourself to the Dark!”

Rey was dying, she knew she was. As her body was racked in agony, the Force wavered violently, as if she were losing her grip. A part of her just wanted to succumb, to let the pain stop.

But then she felt Ben.

His mind was a twisted, trembling mess of panic and fury, swirling relentlessly and pounding through their connection. But she also felt something else beneath the surface. Something so far buried she might not have even known it was there if not for now, when she sensed everything with a primal need.

Purpose.

Rey gritted her teeth through the torture and jerked against the Emperor’s restraint. She extended her arm shakily to Ben, closer, closer…

And then he moved, and their fingers brushed.

The Force burst from their connection and the Emperor’s attack fizzled in a burst of energy. He cried out in surprise as their connection beat throughout their joined hands, and then they both collapsed onto their knees.

When Rey opened her eyes, she was back on the floor of the Death Star, and there was laser fire everywhere.

“Rey,” Ben gasped, coming to hold her in his arms, squeezing her tight.

“We need to get out of here,” she yelled, picking up her saber, their hands still joined.

Ben nodded, his forehead thick with sweat. He grabbed his own saber, and the two jumped to their feet, never letting their fingers go.

Rey could feel the Emperor lurking in this place, waiting for their defenses to be let down so he could engage in another mental attack. Rey was terrified to let go of Ben’s hand, but she knew she would have to soon. Everywhere she looked there were Stormtroopers or New Republic fighters or Knights of Ren. She and Ben needed to separate if they were going to survive this.

She met Ben’s eyes then, and he gave her hand another squeeze, feeling everything she felt.

“Let go,” he told her, nodding his head, his eyes burning. “It will be alright.”

She had to believe him. She sent one more strong pulse through their connection, and then their hands broke apart. They spun around so their backs were to each other, just as their opponents noticed their presence.

Rey moved wildly as one of the Knights advanced towards her, and she could hear Ben’s grunt as he engaged with an unseen opponent. Rey wielded her saber expertly, her and Ben’s blades lighting them in an electric blue glow.

She kicked out with her foot; then with a yell she surged forward, slicing off one of the arms of the Knight. He staggered backwards and with another spin she impaled him straight through with her blade. She turned to find Ben battling another Knight, and she moved to assist him when a stray blast from the airborne laser fire scrapped along her calf.

She cried out, falling forward before getting up just as quickly.

“Rey!”

Finn looked to her across the room, his face soaked in sweat as the other two Knights came straight for her. Rey took a deep breath, thankful that her friends had held them off for as long as they could. She readjusted her grip on her saber, then parried to the left, narrowly avoiding their sweeping blows.

Ben cried out several feel away from her, but Rey couldn’t even look over at him without being struck herself. She heard the tremendous sizzle of saber meeting flesh, and before she knew it Ben was at her side again, shielding her from one of the Knights.

Rey took a step back and nearly tripped over the decapitated head of the Knight he had just engaged with. Her heart nearly beat out of their chest. They could do this. They could do this.

There was a massive explosion off to the side, throwing nearly everyone in the room off balance. Rey watched in horror as Ben fell, his saber skidding out of his hand. She turned as if to help him, but her opponent stepped in front of her, blocking Ben.

“Ben!” Rey cried out as his attacker swung his saber, intending on making the killing blow on his former master.

And then something remarkable happened. The Knight’s chest exploded as a metal quarrel shot through his chest, scattering red everywhere. The Knight fell to his knees, and then forward, his helmet smashing against the floor. Ben reached out his hand, and his saber flew back to him. As he stood, he rotated and stabbed Rey’s Knight with his own saber, cleaving his back. Rey felt the last Knight’s Force signature die as he collapsed.

Ben and Rey turned and Chewie was there, his bow caster in his hand. He released a roar, and Rey could have cried in relief. Ben gave the Wookiee a bewildered look, at a complete loss for words.

After that, it was only a matter of time before the rest of their opponents had fallen. There weren’t nearly as many Stormtroopers as their had been on Hux’s base, and within the hour they had either been defeated or restrained.

Poe came up to the pair, his uniform singed and half of his face bleeding profusely. “See?” he gasped. “That wasn’t so hard!”

The pilot turned then to see Finn, the latter man’s face looking distraught. In his hands he held Poe’s jacket, but it looked to be burned beyond compare.

“I’m so sorry,” Finn blubbered, clutching the jacket to his chest. “I could have avoided it, but the Stormtroopers and then those crazy Knights and then-”

He never got to finish, for Poe grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pressed his mouth to his. He released him after a moment, his snarky smile in place.

“Finn, it’s just a jacket,” he said.

Finn threw his arms around Poe.

Rey turned to Ben to find he was already looking at her. Even now she could feel the Emperor trying to break through their mental shields, but for some reason she knew he wouldn’t again. Ben’s hand gripped hers, and she rose on her toes to meet his lips. His arms wound around her instantly.

The Force beat strongly.

 

\---

 

_3 Months Later._

A new council had to be formed, naturally. The galaxy grieved for those lost on the night of Rey and Ben’s wedding, and then grew from it.

Finn and Poe and BB-8 occasionally travelled via the _Falcon,_ on new missions. Most of the time though, they remained on base. Finn had started a program that would help former Stormtroopers realize the error of their ways, and to try and subvert the brainwashing methods that had been forced upon them for years. Poe was by his side every step of the way.

Ben had gained special permission to travel off base, as long as Rey was beside him. And with what they did these days, he would need to be off base a lot. Rey remembered the last time they had left base, how Leia had bid them both farewell. How she had hugged Rey, and squeezed Ben’s hand, and how after one long moment, Ben had bent down and placed a brief kiss on his mother’s forehead.

Progress was slow, but it was there, and Rey hoped that one day, he would be able to repair his relationship with Luke as well.

When the couple arrived on Ahch-To, thanks to a drop off from Chewie, four Force sensitive children were already waiting for them. The group was small, and their academy wasn’t very established, but Rey had the utmost confidence that it would grow and flourish as time passed.

The Jedi may be gone, but these were the Skywalkers.

Rey smiled as she watched Ben, awkwardly engaging with the younger children. When they asked him questions, his answers were always blunt and honest, and Rey suspected he was giving them the answers he would have wanted as a Padawan. When it was time for meditation, he lingered by Rey’s side, letting her take the lead.

At night, after the children were tucked away in their huts, they retired to their own. Ben held her closely, pressing lingering kisses to her forehead and neck and mouth. She would wind her hands through his hair and breathe in his scent, and promise herself she wouldn’t sleep more than a few hours, so she could remember these smaller moments during the night.

“I think they like you,” Rey murmured against his mouth, a week after they had been there.

He snorted. “They seem afraid of me.”

“I’m sure if you smiled more, that would help.”

“Trust me, that would terrify them more.”

“Maybe, you’re right.” Her hand came up to cup his face. “Ben?”

“Hm?”

She shook her head. “Never mind.”

“No, don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Hide from me. We’re beyond that. Tell me.”

She swallowed. “There’s something about that night…about what the Emperor said.” She felt Ben stiffen in her arms. “What did he mean when he…he said ‘you’ve always known?’”

Ben was silent for a long time, and then his fingers came up to tangle in her hair. He met her eyes reluctantly. “I’ve known since before we met…I’d seen visions of a girl…one who would be my equal in the Force and would…pull me back to the Light.” He swallowed shakily. “When we fought on Starkiller, when the saber chose you instead of me…I knew it was you.”

“And so you tried to kill the Light inside you,” Rey concluded, “by trying to kill me.”

“It made sense to me, and to Snoke. He had warned me about it for years. But when I interrogated you that day, when I saw how lonely you were on that filthy planet…I knew it wasn’t so simple as that.” His eyes became wet. “I’ve been lost for a very, very long time, Rey.”

Rey stared at him, soaking in his emotion and then she kissed him, her lips warm and strong. She poured as much feeling as she could into the contact, into their connection. When she pulled back he watched her as she brushed a thumb over his cheek, and she smiled.

“Now you’re home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it folks! Thank you to all those who read and commented, and keep an eye out for my future works! Love you all :)


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